Mission Fate: Obliteration
by The anonymous TF main
Summary: The sudden death of the King of Demacia has shocked the nation to its core. Twisted fate is assigned by the Night Hunter to unofficially investigate the case with his unique powers, but soon gets himself and the Demacians involved in an evil scheme that would threaten the very existence of Runeterra itself. (Last updated: 19/9/2017)
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: All characters except the OCs belong to Riot Games. The cover photo belongs to some random corner on the internet.**

 **Disclaimer 2: This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author's imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual people, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.**

 **Disclaimer 3: The story I tell here is my own invention, and it is not purported or believed to be part of League of Legends's official story canon.**

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 **(This story is rated T for violence, mild gore and profanity.)**

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It was a typical early morning in Demacia. The sun had just risen up from the horizon, gradually brightening up the sky. The city was slowly awakening up, as people climbed out of their beds, readying themselves for another day of work.

In the middle of the city was the Royal palace of House Lightshield, home of King Jarvan III and his son. The mansion was huge, it being the most luxurious place of all in Demacia, with five floors, a huge garden, a magnificent ballroom, and a swimming pool on the balcony.

Walking up the stairs in the humongous house was a maid in a black and white dress, holding a plate of breakfast in a metal cover. The King ordered breakfast in his room because he claimed to be feeling unwell in the past few days. When the woman finally arrived in front of his room, she was panting for breath (that was an awfully long staircase). She then proceeded to knock the door.

"King Jarvan! Your breakfast is served!"

She stood there, waiting for the door to open. But no one answered her call.

 _Strange, the king always opened the door. He should be long awake by now. It's already quite late when compared to other days._

It was then that she noticed a crack in the door—there was light peeking through the small opening.

The door had been opened before she even got there.

There was an internal struggle in her heart—she would undoubtedly face severe consequences if she was spotted peeping into his room, but there was a strong temptation to see what it looked like in a royal's bedroom. Besides, it seemed quiet in the room, so surely there wasn't anyone inside?

The maid slowly pushed the door, and peeked into the room.

The walls were light-gold in colour, and the curtains were silver. The floor was covered by a red mat. A red blanket and a while pillow were on the bed. The bookshelf was right beside the bed, with many old books.

Something else caught her attention. A man lied on the floor, facing upwards. His arms and legs were spread out. He wore a grim expression, his mouth open, lips purple, his tongue stuck out. One hand was laid on his chest.

"Oh my god! King Jarvan!"

The maid rushed beside the man and examined his condition. She checked his nose.

No sign of breathing. At all.

"Impossible! No! Answer me, my Highness!"

No reply.

She touched his body. It was colder than usual.

No response.

She tried hard to reject the truth, but it was obvious that her fear was confirmed.

King Jarvan Lightshield the Third was dead.

* * *

 **Author's note:**

 **Greetings readers! This is the first fanfiction I've written on this site.**

 **Interested in the opening scene? Do consider reading on if you are fascinated with thrills, adventures and unpredictable storylines. .)**

 **So why did I start to write this story, which can be potentially time-consuming and boring? (Yes, I plan to write this story to over 100k words, and though I'm confident this story will not bore me to death, I understand why some writers abruptly put theirs on hiatus) Two reasons: for entertainment (it's definitely enjoyable) and for improving my writing skills (it's certainly not the best, although I should make very little grammatical mistakes because** **I downloaded Grammarly and thus this will be 99.9% grammatically correct)**

 **Twisted fate is one of the few champs I picked up when I was first introduced to this game, and since then he has become my go-to champ for the mid lane. Thus, he became the protagonist of my story. It's certainly fun writing him since he has some unique abilities, and his past is relatively unexplored in lore so there is more room for me to make up stuff. However, I do include other champions in my story to increase diversity of characters and to keep things fresh. (Guaranteed that 10+ champions will appear here)**

 **I also observed a trend on this website—mystery stories are quite rare. I did some math, and found out that mystery stories take up less than 5% than the total number of stories here. So I thought that it would be challenging to write about the mystery genre here, and I ended up with this. I already expected the number of viewers to be less than usual, but I do hope that at least a few of you are willing to read until the very end—that's my ultimate goal.**

 **Nevertheless, I hope you will enjoy the story if you do choose to read on, and if you (hopefully) have any comments please leave a review below!**


	2. Chapter 1

The moon had replaced the sun as darkness engulfed the land. It was near midnight, and through the clear sky, glimmering stars could be seen easily. It was a spectacular view.

The Ionian countryside had always been quiet and peaceful, away from civilization. There was a dense forest which, when observed from above, was like a green blanket. Wild animals prowled in the forest, big or small. The forest was lively even at night.

Somewhere in the forest was a huge barren land with no trees, a bare surface, and a rocky path. A large brick house, two floors tall, with white walls and a black rooftop, stood in the middle. Shattered glass remained in the windows. Some parts of the house were fairly rusty, as the house was a few decades old. The house was abandoned, as local villagers say, due to it being too old.

Unbeknownst to others, there is actually someone who moved into the house recently.

Because despite the house's appearance being rather old and worn down, the inside was rather clean, with apparent evidence that someone had been in the house, such as a recently used oven.

A man was sitting on a chair, his hands placed on a table along with a black hat, in the dining room with paintings on the wall. He was holding an Ionian newspaper, his eyes staring into the headline that intrigued him to read the story.

"The King of Demacia is dead"

He was, as many people call him, 'Twisted fate'.

The card master was famous for his sheer amount of natural luck, cunningness, and card-manipulating skills. He always wore the same outfit, with his signature black hat. He would often appear in bars all around Valoran, gamble with the locals, and leave with loads of coins in his pocket. Should anyone ever had ill intentions on him, he would have numerous tricks at his disposal to make his getaway, most notably his ability "Gate', which allowed him to teleport himself to another place by will. There is a limit of how far he can go, though.

But things had changed. After a certain incident involving a theft at the largest Piltover bank, he became a fugitive. Piltover sent the most capable of people on his trail, searching for him in the whole of Runeterra. Despite this, the Sheriff said herself that locating Twisted fate "is identical to looking for a nail in the ocean".

The abandoned house was the perfect place for him to take cover. His decision to escape to Ionia was a smart one, as no one would suspect Ionia as his hiding place. He actually came upon this house by "accident" while wandering aimlessly around, and since the house was located in a remote area, he could stay under the radar until his warrants died down. To prevent himself from being recognized, he wore a disguise whenever he left the house, going out either to buy supplies or occasionally, play card games with the locals, but prevented himself from winning too many games to avoid suspicion.

It had been roughly a year since Twisted fate moved here. He didn't know how long he would have to stay here—most people would have forgotten the Piltover incident after such a long time, but there were men and women who had sworn to never retire until they got their hands on the Card master (yes, Twisted fate had crossed paths with countless women, and unfortunately provoked most of them). He could wait, however—life here in Ionia wasn't the worst, and he somewhat enjoyed the peacefulness and quietness to a certain extent. Plus the fact that he enjoyed quite some luxury with his newfound wealth in the Piltover heist.

The King's death, as the article stated, was due to a sudden heart attack while he was sleeping that night, which proved fatal. It was unexpected, but since the King had reports of a heart problem recently, this might not be as shocking to some people. Had he not died, he might be able to rule for around three decades, for a total of more than 60 years. What a shame, he thought. Strangely, all generations of the Lightshield family had died in their 40s, either by murder or diseases, which was a bad omen for Jarvan IV, the soon-to-be King. Jarvan III was to be buried exactly one week later, as traditions hold.

He extended his hand towards a glass of whisky on the table. Pouring the wine into a glass, he gazed out of the window, watching the bright moon, enjoying the view.

Suddenly, he saw a slight movement in the distant darkness. It was near unnoticeable, but since the view had never moved before, it caught Twisted fate's attention.

 _Maybe it's just me seeing things._

But he had an ominous feeling in his heart—this was not a good sight.

Deciding to play safe, Twisted fate drew a card with an orange-coloured eyeball on it. He channeled his mana, his head lowering down, his eyes closed. A moment later the card started to glow, slowly brightening up. A clear image formed in his brain.

The card master smirked.

One distinctive ability of the man was being able to watch someone from a very long distance. Whenever Twisted fate channeled this spell (called "Destiny"), an invisible eye would form above a person's head, and those "eyes" were like windows that he could see from. It was a handy tool, as he could easily plan ahead for his actions, for he had sight of every person far away. People did not realize themselves being watched, which was another advantage for him.

In his mind, an image was forming, becoming clearer in seconds. If there was an image, it meant that a living person was in the area. Which meant that the movements outside were those of a human being.

Someone was paying the gypsy a visit.

* * *

Twisted fate was in shock.

So far, he had never seen any human step near the vicinity of his house. He had lived in this house in harmony, with no one bothering him. Despite not having any company, he'd rather reduce his chances of meeting bloodthirsty, knife-wielding bounty hunters.

Wasn't he in a place where no one could find him? Who, out of all people, could be good enough to locate him out of the many places of Runeterra? He was in Ionia, a very distant island away from Valoran, the main island where most nations were situated, such as Demacia and Piltover. Theoretically, Ionia shouldn't be a suspected place for the gypsy's whereabouts, as there were little to no sightings of him on the lone island. And true, Twisted fate didn't visit Ionia often, because he wasn't a fan of the peaceful nation who had no banks sufficiently large in scale for him.

He looked more intently at the image. There was a man wearing a black coat, carrying a red backpack. He has white hair and multiple wrinkles on his face, so Twisted fate guessed he was an old man. His skin was silver—no, his whole body was covered in metal. There was a red skull tattoo at his back, which startled the gypsy for a split second. He immediately recognized the symbol—it belonged to a mysterious group of men, whom people call "the mage hunters". They were rarely seen in action, but everyone knew what they did—they were ruthless bounty hunters specialized in capturing magic-users. There were many rumors circulating the men-one being the ability to detect an individual if they used any mana.

 _Wait. I am using mana in channeling this very spell._

"Ah, so you have finally become aware of us setting you up, isn't it, my friend?" The man finally spoke, his head now facing the "eye". He was grinning wickedly, while a certain thing in his pocket was vibrating. "You know how long it took us to look for you? "

 _Not very long. A year is nothing to me._

"I am the leader of this group, and despite how old I am, I have led my men over the most difficult of journeys and captured hundreds of wanted criminals who were all headaches to deal with, just like you. But you, out of every victim of ours, had evaded us for the longest time, you know? Most of them don't even last for a day. I had to admit, finding an old fox like you is one of the most infuriating tasks I had ever done in my career. We might not even end up standing here if we weren't lucky enough to spot a mana trail in the forest."

Dammit. He had let his guard down during his stay, confidently believing that he wouldn't be followed by any person, thus forgetting to cover his tracks. As a result, he had to face his worst nightmare now.

"Unhappy that luck isn't on your side for once, is it? Well, you have a choice now. You can choose to walk out of your cowardly house now and follow us back to your rightful "home" in -Piltover, so we don't need to walk in ourselves and drag you away—mind you, it's way more painful. I have always wanted to end your life myself and add you to our collection, but right now the bounty on your head seems to be more attractive. And they kindly stated that a live one is way better than a dead one. Maybe next time, if you ever managed to get out of that freaking cell! I know you will manage that. Heck, I might even help you get out, so we can continue our little game! But you got to make your choice now, and I won't hesitate even a millisecond in killing you if you try any of your tricks."

"By the way, if you plan on using your little teleport move, let me reassure you that you will fail miserably because we have our little gadget that works wonders. Anyway, you have ten seconds to decide your future, Twisted fate. Be smart."

It was at that moment did Twisted fate finally feel fear in years. His body was trembling, and his heart beat like a madman. Chills ran through his body. It was a dilemma. Surrendering to those bounty hunters and being jailed with absolutely no freedom was no different to a death sentence. On the other hand, risking his life in fighting the experienced, merciless and proficient men outside the door didn't look like a wise decision either. Besides, they were mage hunters, so he cannot treat them as ordinary bounty hunters. He would most likely be dead if he chose not to obey.

Part of his mind told him that the man was bluffing—so far his teleportation could not be thwarted by magical means, but this time he could feel that the magic used to channel the spell Gate had disappeared, for unknown reasons. He felt like the link between him and the teleport location was jammed. Guess I underestimated those folks.

His "destiny" spell showed him that only one person was here. However, he doubted that, knowing well that the others must have hidden their presence from his spell using their own methods. They were skilled hunters, after all.

After a few more seconds of consideration, he made his choice. There would be absolutely no escape for him if he surrendered, and as a gambler, he knew to take even the slightest of chances. Better than having none at all, wasn't it?

"I'm being generous today, Mr. fate. I'm giving you five more seconds before I come in myself and stab my little handy tool into your chest."

He took out a stack of cards from his pocket, drew out three gold-coloured cards, held them with two of his fingers, and hid behind a wall corner near the door, crouching slightly. He felt mana infusing his body, power flowing to his hand.

He knew he was no match for the Mage Hunter in a one-on-one duel, but this was his house and he could use the environment to his advantage.

Brain versus brawn.

* * *

There were no longer birds standing on tree branches, foxes wandering around.

There was literally no animal near the house. It was as if they knew that a furious fight to the death was about to occur, and even the insects decided not to make any noise. There was complete silence.

Now standing in front of the door, the man waited for someone to step out, but 20 seconds have passed and so far nothing had happened.

"Well, this means I get to finish off him myself. Stupid gypsy," he sighed. "He doesn't even think properly now."

He took out a metal helmet from his bag and wore it. Then he pulled the trigger of the saw, activating it. An intimidating, terrifying sound could be heard, as he crashed it into the door. Within seconds the door broke open, smashing into the ground.

"Where are you, card master? You won't escape this time without your teleport trick. HAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Fearlessly he stepped into the house. Holding the saw, he walked into the living room, ready to decimate anyone he sees. He spotted a lamp on a wooden table. On the table was a white card, with blue-coloured markings on it. The man bent over and took the card. It wrote:

 _Come and find me if you can, though I believe it will take more than a decade for your insensitive and non-functional eyes to even locate my shoe. It's right beside the door, by the way. Why don't we stop this and maybe I could help massage your back._

"Don't treat me like an old man! Do you know how respected I am in Valoran?" The man shouted, his voice heard within the house. "I will find you and you will be in ashes when I do!"

Somewhere in the house, a smile crept on the face of a gypsy with a black hat.

Some time had passed, and now the man was standing below the attic trapdoor, the only place unchecked. He had searched the whole house—no sign of Twisted fate.

"Soon, I shall see you face-to-face, coward."

He had fetched a wooden chair from the living room and planned to use it to help him reach the trapdoor so he could destroy it using an energy gauntlet. The man placed the chair directly underneath the trapdoor. He placed his leg on it and soon he was standing on the chair.

Correction—the old man was standing on a chair with hidden grease on the surface.

He instantly slipped and lost his balance.

The man's whole body fell off the chair and his buttocks hit hard on the hard ground. And it hurts even more due to him being an old man.

"I will break his teeth the moment I see the wicked face of his."

He stood on the remains of the chair and took out a red gauntlet from his bag. He recited a few words, as the glove started to glow, fusing with energy. He drew back his arm, then punched with full force at the metal trapdoor. The trapdoor flew upwards to the ceiling. With a great leap, he jumped onto the floor of the attic.

The attic was relatively huge, with loads of boxes piled around. It was dirty, with cobwebs on the walls and specks of dust in the air. There were windows on the rooftop as the moonlight shone into the dark room.

He saw a switch and extended his hand forward to press it. It didn't work.

This was obviously someone's doing.

"I know you're here, Twisted fate! Your tricks end now!"

He laughed hysterically for a few seconds, before activating the saw, ready to demolish anything in his sight.

"Come out before I wreck everything here!"

And so, he smashed his saw into everything in his path. A deafening sound could be heard as the crates were torn apart. Pieces of wood flew out from the saw, dropping onto the ground nearby.

Then he saw something flying in the air—a rectangular-shaped thin paper, flying towards him. He fixed his eyes on the object.

It was a poker card.

Instinctively, he grabbed his Banshee's Veil (a shield that blocks magical projectiles) which was positioned in front of his chest all along and attempted to block the card's impact.

Except the fact that it never hit. Instead, he heard an ear-piercing explosion from his back.

He felt his body flying in the air as a huge force pushed him forward, and he slammed into the wall, then fell down to the ground. He saw pieces of dynamite on the floor.

The card was not aimed at him—the crate behind him, which was secretly loaded with dynamite, was the true target. An explosion was triggered, and since the man held the shield in the wrong direction, he was badly hurt, though he could still walk. He wouldn't have been so injured if he was prepared for the blast—but this was unexpected.

"Son of a *****."

He struggled as he stood up, picking up the chainsaw and the Banshee's Veil which he dropped during the blast. His nose was bleeding, and he had a few broken bones at his ribs and backbone, but he did not care. What he wanted now was to grab Twisted fate by the neck and strangle him using his bare hands as a person squeezed a toothpaste with his fingers.

It was a mess. Wood was scattered among the ground with a fire burning on it. The room was now brighter, and he could see the whole attic as the light illuminated even the shadowy places.

Then he saw four crates left standing, stacked in a 2x2 fashion. A shadow formed behind the space of the crates, for the crates blocked the light from shining into the area. It was the corner of the attic.

And it was the last place he hadn't looked.

"Finally! Too bad, Twisted fate, that despite your hopeless attempts of hiding, you still managed to fail to escape. It's time I seal your fate, card master."

In the darkness, the hunted man was holding the three gold cards.

 _I've got nowhere to go now. With the element of surprise, I might fare well against this madman. It's now or never._

He glanced at the man for one last time. His muscles could be seen easily on his arms—he was a strong man. It was a petrifying thought—imagine the pain if he successfully landed a punch on the comparatively fragile card master. He was sweating, his body trembling. But he had no choice. Besides, he still had a few tricks up his sleeve just in case.

The bounty hunter saw slight movement behind the crates.

"You think I, the legendary and famed Mage Hunter, cannot see even the most obscure of movements in the dark?"

 _Too bad he won't see this coming._

Twisted fate proceeded to jump down from the window.

* * *

 **Author's note:**

 **What's better that an opening action scene to start things off? Anyway, glad you gave this story a shot. Hope you'll enjoy the next few chapters, and do leave comments!**


	3. Chapter 2

The bounty hunter knew who he was facing—a devious mage who used magical cards of different usage. Perhaps the most notorious of all was the gold card which, if it successfully hit its target, would incapacitate the victim for a few seconds, unable to move or do anything. So he took defensive measures, such as his armored body and the Banshee's Veil, in case Twisted fate engaged using his gold card.

He did not expect the card master's first strike to be a physical one, let alone a sneak attack from his back. But the man's mind was only anger—it had blinded him to his surroundings and his intelligence, which was crucial in defeating the cunning man. Had he been slightly more observant, he would be able to see Twisted fate's shadow under the window.

And suddenly he felt something heavy at his back, pushing him down. Unfortunately, the force was on one of his weak spots—his fragile bones.

"Arghhhhhhhhhh!"

He collapsed to the ground. Above him stood the attacker—the gypsy whom he had been desperately looking for. He had temporarily disabled the man, but he had to kill him in order to settle things down.

 _If I can take off his helmet, I can easily end his life with my cards._

The problem was that the helmet was locked with the body armor. If one needed to expose his skin, one would have to break through the metal, which was a task that Twisted fate could not do alone.

But then he saw the red gauntlet in the fallen man's hand. He had witnessed the power of it, and it would prove useful in breaking the metal. So his hands reached for the gauntlet and pulled it out of the man's hand with ease. Wearing it himself, he then tried to mimic the bounty hunter's actions of using the gauntlet.

"Hmph, first he balled his fist to store energy, then he drew back his arm, and punched directly at the target. Pretty simple way to use it."

He curled his fist into a ball-shape and drew back his arm. Then with all his might, he threw his arm at the neck of the man.

Instead of smashing the armor with ease, he felt his hand hitting a rock.

"Christ!" He yelled with pain, as his hand became numb to him. He held his pained hand for a few seconds, before calming down. Wondering why it failed to work, he suddenly remembered something.

He forgot to read out the activation words of the magically-infused gauntlet.

 _What was it again? Dammit, I don't have any of those words in my mind! Wait, is it ..._

He abruptly stopped as he saw movement within the metal.

The man had his palms on the floor, as he tried to stand up, his body rising slowly. In a second, Twisted fate ran towards him and attempted to kick him, but he old man was unusually agile and swooped over the gypsy's legs with his. Losing his balance, he tripped, his back hitting the ground.

"Idiot." He was an old man, and he spoke much more slowly and in a lower voice, but it was surprisingly menacing. "What a cowardly attempt to attack me from the back. And you got me permanent injuries from that explosion! I'm sure that I won't be able to run fast again. But this isn't about the money anymore, Twisted fate. You're humiliating me, and now I'm making this personal. YOU-WILL-DIE!"

Now fully standing, his huge body cast a shadow over the card master. He leaped at the card master, his hands eager the strangle the man to death.

But Twisted fate was faster. He forced his legs to push him away, throwing his whole body backwards. The bounty hunter smashed into the floor in front of him. Immediately the gypsy jumped up, and threw all three of his gold cards at him, one by one, in quick succession.

However, he knew the cards were useless, for he was still wearing his armor.

Unsurprisingly, the magical cards hit the man but dropped onto the ground afterwards, as if a paper ball was thrown at a wall. The stun effect was completely mitigated by the armor.

"Those cheap tricks of yours—NO MORE!"

He held the chainsaw and step by step, he closed his distance between the two.

Twisted fate drew out another two cards, this time blue-coloured. He threw the cards out with his two fingers as his eyes focused on the chainsaw. The blue card was the most powerful card in terms of strength—in this case, he intended to knock away the bounty hunter's chainsaw. The man responded by holding the Banshee's Veil against him.

The blue card hit the shield and dropped to the ground. "Seems like your projectiles are useless against me, Card master." He taunted.

Twisted fate grinned back in response, his trademark smile on his face: "I reckon."

Just then the second blue card, which discreetly flew all the way to his back like a boomerang, crashed into the chainsaw. A straight-on blue card impact hit like a boulder, so the chainsaw was knocked away, and by Twisted fate's careful aim sent the chainsaw towards the window, and out of the house. Which meant that the weapon was out of the fight.

"How dare you!"

The man closed the few steps to the gypsy and threw an uppercut him at his face as hard as he could. The impact sent Twisted fate flying backwards, crashing onto the ruins of a damaged wooden crate. His hat landed a few feet behind him. Satisfied, the man advanced towards the card master, slowly but steadily.

"Ugh…my hat…" Twisted fate had greatly underestimated the elderly man in front of him—he wasn't even sure if he was as old as his appearance suggested. His face looked like it had lived for more than 7- years, and yet he had the strength of two men, and he didn't look anywhere affected by his injuries, despite his age. Either the man had drunk empowering potions before he came, or his appearance was entirely unrelated to his actual age.

He had no chance of hurting the man with his cards—his armor proved too resistant, and he would never dream of fighting him hand-to-hand, but what if he used other means?

 _Wait, I think I remember the words of using the gauntlet. Maybe if I can keep him at bay, there will be plenty of time for me to figure out how to use the glove—then things will be way easier._

He looked around and saw a near-collapsing part of the ceiling directly above the bounty hunter. _Maybe I can make use of that._

Not moving his body, he drew a red card and threw it at the ceiling. Due to the explosion beforehand, part of the ceiling had been weakened, and with the red card's further damage, it could no longer hold itself and collapsed right on top of the man. He lifted his shield and tried to defend himself, but the debris was too heavy and crushed him to the ground.

The dust cleared as Twisted fate saw piles of brick on the spot, and a big hole was formed on the roof, causing the moonlight to shine down directly from the sky.

He then glanced at the red glove on the old man's hand. _Now's the time to use this._

"Too bad for you, because I know how to activate the gauntlet now."

He recited the words as the gauntlet glowed with light. Twisted fate stepped closer to the man, a victorious smile on his face.

"Nobody touches the hat."

* * *

Twisted fate couldn't believe what he had just done. He put his hands on his chest, attempting to calm himself down. He had just killed the man himself, the notorious, deadly, and a rather old Mage Hunter in the house. The unfortunate man lied on the ground, his metal helmet beside his head, revealing his wrinkle-filled face. A number of poker cards had their pointed edges deep inside his neck. He still had his armor on, but it provided unnecessary protection—he would never move again anyway.

And now one of the most feared bounty hunters in Valoran was down. His chances of being captured had been reduced greatly.

 _It's no longer safe here. I should probably leave this place and head to another one. At least it feels better to have one less enemy on my trail._

Then the card master saw the Banshee's Veil.

 _Ah, this might be worth loads of gold. I'd better take this away. It might come in handy on my trip._

He picked up the item and headed for the trapdoor, preparing to leave.

All of a sudden he heard voices at his front, and he watched as he saw two figures jump up from the trapdoor. They look the same as the dead man- fully armored, but without their helmets. Unlike the old man, they were young and had black hair instead of white. One of them held a silver sword, the other holding a radio.

It seemed like there wasn't only one Mage Hunter.

"So this is why our boss had not replied our messages for the last five minutes." The one with the radio said.

"Our boss was already too old to keep up with these type of work, but at least he was decent in close combat, and I can't believe that he lost to a man that knows nothing about fighting with his bare fists. Oh, and he even gave you his gadgets. No wonder you beat him. But I will not make the same mistake."

Immediately after he finished, his hand moved and flung something at Twisted fate. Instinctively, he blocked it with the Banshee's Veil. It fell to the ground, revealing it to be a dagger.

Looking up, he saw the sword-wielder in the air, ready to land on him. He turned to his left and did a front flip on the ground to the left, a mere second away from being slashed by the blade.

He immediately threw a card at the swordsman's head, hoping to kill him in one blow. He thought how foolish he was to not wear a helmet. But the man quickly deflected it using his sword. Unconvinced, he took out a stack of cards and launched them one by one. And they all failed to touch even the man's skin.

"Takes more than some playing cards to finish me. I'm an expert swordsman, and you expect me to not know some tricks?"

Dammit. Twisted fate hated swordsman just because they could parry all of his cards, which was his only reliable way of attack. And the man in front of him was surely one of them.

 _Sigh, where is Lady Luck when I needed her most?_

Turning his head, he saw the other guy sneaking behind him, about to punch his back. In response he threw his fist at him, the energy gauntlet hitting the man's face straight on.

Twisted fate heard a large thump at the wall behind him. He did not know what happened to the man, but he wasn't keen on looking at someone who was just hit by a force weighing tons on the face.

But the distraction that the man created proved to be detrimental to Twisted fate, as the swordsman utilized the chance to strike him. Twisted fate realized that and attempted to dodge the strike, but it went through the gypsy's torso. It was too late.

Twisted fate did not scream—the pain was too much to bear as it seared through the wound to his whole body. The swordsman then grabbed his neck and hurled him to a close wall.

He laid on the floor, wounded by the near-fatal slash from the swordsman. He could not get up at that moment and watched helplessly at the man and the sword still stuck in his torso.

It seemed that all the Mage Hunters were brutal and had prodigious strength, and though Twisted fate had beaten the leader with his wits and by taking advantage of his old age, the swordsman was young and too agile and had inhuman reflexes. The card master stood no chance.

The swordsman was now in front of Twisted fate. He grabbed the sword and brutally pulled it out of him as he cried in pain. His face was pure evil, a malicious smile on his face as he raised his bloodied weapon, ready to end the card master's life.

He couldn't believe he would die like this.

 _So this is my destiny. Guess I have no choice but to follow._

He closed his eyes.

"Your time is over, Twisted fate."

A thunderous, agonizing scream can be heard from the attic, able to frighten even the bravest of men.

But it wasn't Twisted fate's.

His eyes shot open, gasping for breath, wondering why he wasn't dead by now, and instead saw a horrendous sight.

The bounty hunter was far away from him, now leaning against a wall facing him. A huge, weighty silver bolt was stuck in the middle of the bounty hunter's chest, pinning him to the wall. Trails of blood slowly flowed down from the man's chest. The man's face was a horror mask—his eyes full of fear, his mouth wide open while standing motionlessly. He was dead. The bolt was so powerful it pushed the man straight to the wall, piercing right through the man's armor, straight into the heart.

Twisted fate stood up, still confused about the sudden turn of events. He moved closer to the man and examined the bolt, which was ridiculously sharp. He looked closely at the skin of the man in contact with the bolt, and it seemed that the bolt itself was corroding the man's skin bit by bit. He guessed that the material used to create the bolt was toxic. Even if the man survived the initial strike, the silver would still poison and kill him slowly. What a cold-blooded act!

But had he been allowed to live for even one more second, he would have stabbed Twisted fate fatally, and two bodies would be on the floor instead. The gypsy secretly thanked whoever took the shot—

it was accurate and deadly enough to stop his would-be killer's actions.

No sooner did Twisted fate fully regain his consciousness than a dark figure jump into the house from the front window. An oil lamp near her revealed her costume from the shadows. She wore a blue suit, with a red cape at her back, fluttering slightly. She had a triangular-shaped head, her sharp chin clearly visible. A long strain of hair could be seen at the back of her head. Perhaps her most striking feature was the pair of red sunglasses she wore.

The gypsy took a moment to realize that she was the legendary Night Hunter which many people had talked about. Almost everyone knew her ultimate goal—to eliminate all sorts of dark creatures from the world—but no one had seen her in person because her witnesses usually ended up dead. And now the living legend was standing in front of him.

"The Night Hunter." Twisted fate exclaimed, "What are you doing here?"

"Save your questions for later. I'd better deal with the remaining men first." She answered.

"How'd you know so well? Are you the one who coordinated this attack on—"

"You keep your mouth shut or you'll end up like the dead man behind you."

"Fine."

Unsurprisingly, she was as unkind as people had said.

"Stay here and wait for me. And don't you dare leave your spot."

"Sure. Pretty sure I can't even stand up right now."

He watched as Vayne headed to the trapdoor, wondering why she deliberately asked him to stay. Truth be told, he had more than a thousand questions ready to bombard her, but he would rather wait till later.

"The Mage Hunters have four men in total. Three of them dead, one fleeing from here. I will track him down, since they won't be far, I believe."

Twisted fate was about to respond when he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his torso. Looking down, he saw blood coming out from his earlier wound. He had matters of his own.

* * *

The living room was currently the only lighted room in the house.

Twisted fate and his new guest sat at the table, facing each other. Strangely, the living room was the only place that was untouched after the assault. The gypsy had bandages wrapped around his wound, slightly easing the pain. He had a bottle of whisky beside him, and he poured his third glass of wine that night – oblivious to the fact that he had undeniably drunk too much. He pushed the bottle to Vayne.

"I'm not a wine person."

"Be one. It helps reduce stress."

"Why would a man as carefree as you have any stress?"

There was a pause. The card master stared at the woman with worn out eyes. He was exhausted from the fight between the Mage Hunters. Vayne glared back, though he could not see hers since she had those "glasses" of hers. _I should probably ask her about the sunglasses sometime._

"Did you find the last member of theirs?" He asked.

"I did, and now he's already dead in the forest with a dagger in his chest.

"You killed him with a dagger?"

"It seemed that he would rather see Mistress Death to seeing me."

Silence. If the man was willing to kill himself than to face Vayne, then surely the way she dealt with those people...it must be indescribably horrible. And he had no intention of knowing the truth.

"Don't you think that they would have effortlessly captured me if they weren't that overconfident and proud of themselves?"

"They don't really take you very seriously, so they think that toying with you might be more interesting and enjoyable for them. Though I'm pretty sure you would have died if I didn't interfere. You're absolutely defenseless against that kind of people. If I were to capture you, you won't even see me coming."

The last sentence struck a nerve in Twisted fate.

"Wait—you're here for the money too, aren't you?"

"I would love to, but I got more important matters to attain to."

He felt as if an elephant leg lifted off from his heart. Fortunately, she didn't have the same intentions as those bounty hunters, thought the gypsy wondered why on earth would she look for him.

"It's been a year since my hiding, and the one I least expect to appear is you. You wouldn't show up in this kind of places for no reason, so how did you even find me? I doubt you've seen me since the robbery."

"I didn't. But with such a huge bounty on your head, every person who had guts searched around looking for you. I have known and tracked these group of Mage hunters for quite some time, so I thought that they would be very much obsessed getting their hands on you. Plus they knew a lot more about finding mages than I do, so I chose to tail them. They led me straight to your place. I tried to take them down first but I thought that it would be unwise to alert them early on. So I followed their trail and interfered at the last moment, and this is how we ended up to be right now."

"So you were watching me the whole night."

"You can say so. I have to admit that you did pretty well against these bandits though."

Twisted fate smiled as he drank yet another bottle of wine. "But why were you looking for me in the first place?"

He noticed Vayne clear her throat before she replied,

"Well…you know what happened to our King in Demacia, right?"

"Just read it in the news. He died of a heart attack. It's regretful that he had the same fate as other members of the family line. They all died early. But I don't think it will matter much because I look forward to his son being the king sooner. I heard that he might be a better king than **—** "

He suddenly felt something holding his throat. He looked up and saw Vayne's hand at his neck, a furious expression on her face, baring her teeth.

It was the second time in years for him to feel fear once again **—** this time in front of a woman.

"You're implying that Highness Jarvan III's death does not matter much to us? Implying that he is easily dispensable? You have no idea how much he had sacrificed for our country, you fool!"

"Fine, Fine! I did not mean any of that! No violence needed!"

Upon hearing this, she let go of his neck, her expression slightly softened, but it was clear her anger was still there.

"They will bury him tomorrow, in the Demacian Royal Graveyard. There he will rest in peace with his family. People say his death was imminent because of his recent heart condition, but I refuse to believe that King Jarvan died just because of a simple heart attack. He is a strong man, and even if he died, he would die in a glorious way, in an honorable way, not like this."

"I need to know how King Jarvan died. How he _**actually**_ died. Now, there's a significant chance that I might find some clues from his body. I need to undercover the truth no matter what method I use, even if it's illegal. The problem is, no one except the bloodline of Lightshield can enter the graveyard, and the iron bars surrounding the place are magically powered, so it's impossible to climb in from the outside. Not even I can think of a way to get in, but this is when you come into play. You are well known for being able to teleport away from sticky situations for countless times, so I assume that you can easily teleport into the graveyard. Here's what you're going to do. You will take me into the graveyard."

"…."

Out of all the things he expected her to say, none was her asking him for help.

"Are you serious? There's plenty more people out there, especially in Demacia, who can do the exact same thing. There are so many senior mages in your country, and they can be so much more useful to you. Asking someone like me for help is—"

"First, you're the only person I know that has the ability to teleport to a far location without any consequences. Second, those mages out there have the choice to refuse my request, which I predict they would, but I am pretty sure that you don't have this luxury."

"And why is that?"

"If you choose not to help me, then I will have no choice… but to bring you to the authorities. Maybe you will live a better life in prison, won't you? Or do you think that you stand a chance against me?"

Twisted fate snarled under his breath.

"Women nowadays are such heartless and despicable jerks. You're no better than those bounty hunters."

A wicked smile appeared on the Night Hunter's face. "Not at all. At least I did not beat you up before questioning you. So, are you willing to assist me?"

"But do you seriously mean that I get nothing out of this? You're literally treating me like a slave! From what I know, a Demacian always treats others with respect!"

Vayne twitched her eyes under the sunglasses.

"One thing you need to know is that I belong to a different type of Demacian. I was born in Demacia, but my personality and methods vastly differ from theirs. Nonetheless, you're correct. Despite my status, I am loyal to my country. Hmph, how about I pay you 100 bucks after this?"

Twisted fate's eyes widened upon hearing the word "bucks".

He appeared to be considering the situation, as he lowered his head and placed his hand on his chin, but he had already accepted the offer deep in his mind. Using a simple spell of his and he got to earn enough money for six months of food? Only a fool would reject the bargain.

The card master grinned as he raised his head, his eyes trained on Vayne's.

"Count me in."

* * *

 **Author's note:**

 **Twisted fate signs a deal with the Night Hunter! What exactly lies in the graveyard?**


	4. Chapter 3

"King Jarvan III Lightshield the Third, our respected and mighty ruler of Demacia, has passed away yesterday."

It was the day of the funeral. In front of the Royal Graveyard stood an enormous number of people, most of them Demacians but some from other nations as well. There was a path in the middle of the crowd trailed with red carpet, all the way to the entrance of the graveyard. Crowds of men and women stood there, all dressed in black. The atmosphere was a somber one.

Vayne was there, standing with Garen, Quinn, and Lux. Vayne wore a black outfit as well, something she rarely did. She did not listen to the lengthy speech, but instead her mind was focused on the past.

Jarvan III had deep, unique personal ties with her. He had a goal similar to hers—to bring justice to the world. Together they had worked hard in eliminating any sources of evil, Jarvan to enforce the importance of justice to his citizens, and Vayne to annihilate any threats to peace. To Vayne, the only person in the world whom she truly respected and trusted was him. He had taught her the real meaning of life, and for countless times drove her away from the wrong path. And now he was dead. Never to return. Not only did she lose a valued friend, but a longtime mentor. And it was near impossible to find anyone in the world who could replace him.

"…may our king live peacefully in the afterlife."

Everyone bowed their heads in silence, mourning the death of their King. Several high ranking Demacian officials, including the High General of Demacia—currently the substitute of the King and thus at the moment the person with the most authority in the nation, were moving the King's black coffin towards the entrance through the red carpet path. On the coffin was the logo of Demacia, made in gold, shining under the sunlight.

A small number of people cried, their tears flowing down on their face. Vayne herself was weeping, something she had not done for many years. Jarvan III's death had caused disastrous effects to Demacia, but to Vayne it was a nightmare. It was hard to imagine life without Jarvan. She felt alone, no longer having someone to give her valuable advice and support constantly. In fact, he was the only person in the world who had seen her true face behind her glasses.

Lux noticed that but decided not to say anything. She was in tears herself, too.

As the coffin was placed in front of Jarvan's grave, ready to be buried, her emotions left her and Vayne turned back to the cold, heartless and vengeful Night Hunter she was. Her brief display of weakness was gone.

She was absolutely sure that someone took the life of Jarvan III away rather than a single heart attack.

And she would find out the truth tonight.

* * *

The Demacian Plaza was one of the busiest areas of the state. There were many old buildings in the plaza, most of them being shops selling souvenirs, attracting both locals and tourists. There was a water fountain in the middle of the court and a statue of the Demacian Logo beside it.

A hooded woman in a purple hooded dress leaned against the statue, her arms crossed. She was wearing a pair of black sunglasses, staring at the rocky ground. She was waiting for something—or more specifically, someone.

A week ago, Twisted fate had told her to await him at the place, while he would "find a way" to enter the borders of Demacia. Vayne originally agreed with him to meet at 4:00 pm, but an hour had passed and he had yet to show up. Sure, Ionia was nearly a thousand miles away from Demacia, situated on a lone island far away from the mainland, but there was no reason Vayne could reach Demacia quicker than the gypsy if he truly had teleportation abilities.

She was extremely thirsty, for she had not drunk anything since the morning, and she felt her throat dried out, tremendously uncomfortable for her. Her eyes scanned the buildings for a place with drinks, but to no avail.

Then she spotted a bar.

 _Dammit, why does a bar appear every time I think of Twisted fate?_

The Night hunter hated wine products, for she had a bad history with these kinds of drinks. But she didn't have a choice given her current condition. Grudgingly she stepped into the bar.

The bar was mostly made out of wood, with wooden walls, tables, and chairs. It was noisy as usual, the tables sat with men drinking a huge glass of beer, smoking tobacco, or chatting noisily. The barman seemed to be excited, shouting something at his customers. Strangely, not one woman was to be seen.

The answer came when every person in the bar diverted their attention from their conversations to the one female walking into the bar. Vayne noticed their eyes trained on her, but in spite of that, she walked straight to the barman, ignoring the men.

"Give me the cheapest wine in this bar, now." She ordered.

'Oh sure, I wouldn't displease a woman, of course. Hehe." The man giggled for no reason, then walked into the kitchen.

 _These people here seem to act strangely ever since I walked into the bar. I should be more careful._

She looked around, confirming that there was not a single woman in the bar, before searching for a seat. However, it seemed that no seat was available at the moment.

"Looking for this, lady?"

A man pointed at an empty chair beside him.

Vayne wondered why she failed to spot the chair, but regardless she walked to the man and sat down.

"Is there any reason that there aren't any women at this hour?"

"Nah, it's just that this bar is known to be a man's bar. But it's not that we don't enjoy any woman company. You don't seem to visit bars often."

"Wine would be at the bottom of my priority list if I were to choose."

"Ah. So why are you here? You're waiting for someone who likes this kind of places?"

"Wow. How'd you know that?"

"Just guessing. Who is he, your husband?"

"No. He's just…a partner of mine."

Vayne stared at the table, her thoughts on something else, failing to acknowledge the fact that the man kept staring at her.

After a while, the man broke the silence and patted her shoulder.

"Come with me, let me tell you something in a more private area."

As soon as he finished, he grabbed her arm and pulled her to the back door of the bar.

"Wait—what is this? Stop what you're doing, or—"

The two of them were now in a deserted dark alley, with brick walls and a few rubbish containers at the dead end of the alley. The man, still dragging Vayne, pushed her against the wall, while himself standing in front of her.

"You're a beautiful woman. Do you know how gorgeous you are?"

"What do you want?"

"You seem to lack some social skills. I can teach you some, it helps a lot if you're looking for a…suitable man. You don't look all that happy too. So…it's a great idea to come over to my house, and we can have some-"

Vayne thought the man must be a lunatic.

"What?! No, no, I'm not going to-"

"LISTEN TO ME!" The man suddenly shouted, silencing Vayne completely. "I…sorry, I just can't control myself when it comes to these topics, but your appearance…it reminds me of my wife…"

"She…she was beautiful—beautiful as you. I loved her so much, and we were a happy couple—we had such a good time together…...until that night. That night, when those witches—those evil women…they killed her. I wasn't beside her when that happened. I…I failed to save her. I failed to protect her, and this fateful mistake plagued me still, even it happened over 20 years ago. But you…."

Vayne was shocked. She had planned to use force on the man, but his words made her think of her deceased parents—their death the same cause as the man's. The monsters she had been hunting for her whole life—she hated them. But it was the first time she met someone with the same fate as hers. She started to pity this man instead.

"Actually, my parents were killed in the same way."

"I can sense from the beginning that we are related in some way. You really look like her, and I just can't…put this thought away from my mind."

Vayne was wondering what to do. Suddenly she remembered of the graveyard mission she planned with Twisted fate. And any delay could jeopardize the plan.

"You see, I got a very important job to do tonight. I'm sorry…but as much as I want to, I can't."

The man's eyes did not move an inch. He just stood still, unmoved by what she had said.

 _Gosh. Did I say something wrong?_

Without warning, the man fell backwards and plummeted to the ground. The realization came to her that he had _**not moved an inch**_ for the whole duration. Did she say something so devastating that it could instantly cause someone to faint?

At the same time, a shadow appeared at the end of the alley, revealing a red-haired man. He wore a pair of glasses, and his mustache nearly covered his mouth. He was wearing a gray T-shirt and dark-blue trousers. He was completely a stranger to Vayne…but he was holding a glowing golden card, giving away his identity at once.

"Poor guy. He will probably stay there for a few minutes. "

"I could have handled that situation myself. "

"Don't be so arrogant, dear. You got to admit that to some extent, you can't do everything alone. Likewise, I saw things escalating rather quickly, isn't it? Now, I thought we had a deal tonight."

Vayne grumbled, leaving the alley. As much as she refused to admit, things would have gone really awkward if it wasn't for Twisted fate's interference. Meanwhile, the gypsy was quite surprised by the woman behind the Night Hunter, not knowing he was officially the first person in the world that had ever seen her true face other than Jarvan.

* * *

The Royal graveyard was near silent at night, an eerie atmosphere surrounding it. It was the burial ground of the Demacian Kings and their relatives. There was a rumor that the corpse of Jarvan I wandered around at midnight, seeking vengeance for his brutal death by Sion, the Noxian general, though no one claimed to have actually seen him. The magical bars were set by Jarvan II, in order to protect the graveyard and the bodies within. Those who had tried to climb the bars died a horrible death, being shocked by electricity, turning them into ashes. Since the graveyard was built, no other people had entered the place except the Jarvans.

Until tonight.

Because the Card master and the Night hunter, dressed in their own disguises, had chosen to set foot on the graveyard.

"And I thought a royal graveyard will be different from ordinary ones." He commented.

They were standing on a small hill nearby, looking down at their destination. Had they had time, this place would be the top-notch spot to watch the sunrise in Demacia. Which they didn't, sadly. Vayne had brought the tools needed for their mission in her backpack.

"Listen, I will teleport you into the graveyard, then you look for the King's grave because I don't know where the grave exactly is. After you're done with whatever you need to do, we get out and you pay me. Then we part ways."

"Fair enough," she replied. "Let's get started, shan't we?"

"Hold my arm."

She obeyed, her right hand now on his shoulder. Twisted fate took out a stack of cards, then closed his eyes as he felt energy fusing into his hands. He then threw the cards onto the grass, circling him, whilst picturing the image of the spot he wanted to teleport to in his mind. Below him, the circle started to glow with white light. Vayne quickly stepped into the circle, and seconds later the white light swallowed the two.

All Vayne could see was white. Completely whiteness. In fact, they seemed to be standing on something, though she could not see any solid ground. And strangely, Twisted fate was standing beside her in a nonchalant manner, as if everything was ordinary to him. The woman wanted to ask him "what the hell is going on" but before she had a chance to speak anything, the bright light suddenly disappeared as her surroundings slowly changed. She felt an unanticipated force push her from her back, causing her to tumble and fall, hitting head first onto something hard.

 _My face hurts_. She opened her eyes and saw what the surface looked like. It was brown in colour. She raised her head and looked around. It was completely dark above her, with a few white cloud-like things. There was a glowing thing that was shaped like a banana. On the surface were many rocks that were rectangular-shaped and had markings on them, lined up in an orderly fashion. Further away there was a lengthy wall which looked like steel bars. It seemed to surround the whole area she was in, as they were in each of the four directions—north, south, east and west, like a square.

Then she felt another headache. Suddenly, her mind became crystal clear. She realized where she actually was. She was at her destination. The royal graveyard. Surrounded by the graves of the deceased relatives of the Lightshield family. And in front of a grave with the words "Jarvan III" on it.

"I never experienced a teleportation in my life, and it feels awful. How did you know where his grave was?"

"I didn't. It was sheer luck. And I could tell that by looking at your white pale face."

"What was that, Twisted fate? Why was it white all around us?"

"I'm surprised you didn't know about the Dimension of Teleportation. Ok, so I will briefly explain this. When anyone channels a teleportation spell, they will be sent to this dimension, and the dimension helps get to your destination in only a matter of seconds. In other words, the teleporter is sent to an express hallway that can be reached only by them. And sometimes there will be random energy forces from the instability between the teleportation magic and the dimension, so you have to be prepared at all times until you reach the point."

"Whatever. I'm lucky enough to have even survived that trip."

"There are many risks during the teleportation, but death isn't one of—"

"Shut up."

Twisted fate watched as Vayne put her bag on the ground and took out two shovels.

"Let's get to business."

They started digging into the soil, piling out loads of dirt. It was cold in the graveyard at night, but the body heat generated from their work kept them warm. Twisted fate glanced at Vayne for one second. She was strong, lifting up dirt easily as if it took no strength at all. On the other hand, he became tired after only five shovels of dirt. Despite her being relatively thin, she had the strength and stamina of a muscular man, probably like Garen.

 _Don't judge a book by its cover._

A few minutes later, Twisted fate saw something shining among the dirt. It was gold in colour.

"Hey, I got something here! Check this out!"

"That must be what we're looking for."

They dug up the dirt surrounding the golden thing, revealing it to be Jarvan III's armor. After a while, his whole body was revealed, his faithful armor still on his body.

"There we go. So what now?"

"Wait. Stay away as I carry out some tests on him.'

Twisted fate climbed up from the hole and stood at the edge, watching Vayne work on the King's body. It was a gruesome process as she cut open his body and examined. Feeling disgusted, he turned away and laid down on the grass, gazing at the sky instead.

He remained there for like an eternity before he heard a voice,

"I found out the truth cause of his death. Come over here."

"I'm on it." He scrambled towards her and saw her pointing at Jarvan's chest.

"I have thoroughly checked his body, and there is not a single sword mark in his chest nor any chemicals in his bloodstream, so it seemed that he died of natural causes at first glance. However, I found traces of dark magic in his heart that the doctors could not have detected. This proves that someone who performed the dark arts was responsible instead."

Twisted fate couldn't believe his ears.

 _Impossible. If the doctors in Demacia, who were well-known to be the most professional medical experts in Valoran, had concluded that it was a heart failure, there would be no argument—their words are golden, and their judgement is always correct_.

He examined Jarvan's chest himself, adjusting his decorative glasses, though knowing well that it would not make any difference. Although it looked perfectly normal, the arrow on Vayne's scanner—a magical compass, pointed at the direction of Jarvan's chest. According to her, it meant that dark magic was located in the middle of his body. And he believed that the Night Hunter would never make a mistake in observations.

M _aybe she's right! This proves her theory that there's something more to this case. Maybe I shouldn't have doubted her at first._

He stared at the compass and the body for a moment.

"Hey, why shouldn't we continue to …Vayne?"

Wondering why she didn't answer, he turned around and saw the woman, a mortified expression on her face. But that wasn't the most shocking part.

Because she was in the arms of a man. Or to be more specific, a large man wearing black armor and holding a sword. Behind him stood 2 identical men, though not as tall. Twisted fate deduced them to be Demacian soldiers, the proud logo clearly carved in the middle of their plate armor.

"Well, well, what do we have here? Do you know that this graveyard is a restricted area? Drop your weapons now or she will suffer."

Twisted fate was completely caught unawares. Their secret mission had completely went south.

 _Damn, we're doomed._


	5. Chapter 4

"Drop your weapons now or she will suffer."

 _Who are these men? How did they get into this graveyard? They dress like Demacian soldiers, so surely they couldn't be from the Lightshield family! But isn't this place inaccessible to everyone? Unless…they are the men appointed to guard this place._

Twisted fate looked around of his surroundings. Vayne was struggling hard from the man's grasp, but he was too strong for her. The guards stood in a circle, completely surrounding the card master, so he couldn't run from them. He could choose to teleport away, but they could interrupt his channel. And if he took out weapons—his cards, he would risk Vayne being hurt. He had to choose a way that would not cause any immediate disadvantages to himself and her.

So he raised his hands up to the air. He chose to surrender, for the time being.

"I need the shovels. And any weapon that you have in your pocket. "

Reluctantly, he walked over to the tools and dragged them over to the man barking orders.

"Very good." He smiled wickedly, "search his body. And this bag. Hmph." The man was holding Vayne's bag.

 _What?! The man is holding the bag!_

It was at that moment did Twisted fate become aware of how dangerous the situation was. He knew that Vayne must have placed her crossbow in it, and once the man opened the bag to check its contents, the crossbow would be a dead giveaway to her identity. It would end in chaos, and to the point of no return. To her, at least. And Twisted fate had his cards in his pocket—if the men checked his pocket, then his identity would also be revealed, and he would probably pay with his life.

The guards took out an electronic metal scanner and held it near his body, moving upwards and downwards. They checked the reading on the device afterwards, and said,

"We confirm that he is currently unarmed, sir."

"Excellent." He replied.

Sweat dripped down the gypsy's forehead. He would have wiped the drops of sweat from his brow if it wasn't for their dire condition, for he had no intention of showing his nervousness to them.

He was lucky. Once again.

"Good thing you're lucky, red-hair." The man said. Then he zipped open the bag.

Twisted fate's heart literally stopped.

"What is this? Oh, what a beautiful bow this is! And these arrows…you're a hunter, lady?"

 _What? Isn't it a crossbow and dozens of silver bolts supposed to be inside?_

He took out a wooden recurve bow from the bag. It was smaller than usual, but it looked extraordinarily powerful. Then he threw the bow on the ground and took out a dozen arrows with white arrowheads.

Vayne was smart enough to bring along weapons that were deadly yet being able to conceal her identity.

"These bow looks pretty rare. Thanks for your gift, woman. So, tell me who you are." He pointed at the gypsy.

"Me?"

 _Think fast, Twisted fate. What story can you make up?_

"I'm a bodysnatcher that has been sent by someone to retrieve King Jarvan's body." He tried to speak as confidently as possible, despite his being completely intimidated by the man.

"Oh. This explains why you're so eager in getting into this graveyard even with the potentially heavy consequences. You know you could go to prison for half of your lifetime, don't you?"

"I know the risks. And I'm willing to take them."

"I guess the reward must be extraordinarily captivating. Too bad you got discovered by us first. And this woman?"

The only good news was that so far none of the guards could recognize Vayne. They had no idea that the woman in the man's arms was the legendary Night Hunter herself.

"She's…hmph, let's just say that I made a deal with her and would give her some credit should she choose to help me."

"I see. And now you are going to follow us back to our headquarters. Do you copy?"

The soldiers approached Vayne and Twisted fate and handcuffed them both, much to his dismay.

"Yes, sir."

The soldiers were heading for the entrance and he had no choice but to follow. Vayne was on the ground now and following the men's footsteps. She seemed to be deliberately averting eye contact with Twisted fate, so he had no idea of her condition.

"Wait, if only the royal family can enter this graveyard, why can you be standing here?"

"I'm the Royal guard of this graveyard. I have special authority granted by the Lightshield family to arrest any intruders."

When they arrived at the gate, which was made of iron bars, the man holding Vayne—presumably the leader of the guards—took out a radio.

"Guard of the Royal graveyard here. Captured some intruders in the graveyard. Open the door gates. Over."

They waited for a few seconds. Then the radio replied,

"Copy that. Demacia has sent an official to pick you up in the river. You will be taken across the river by him and his boat. Wait in the area in front of the tree. Over."

The gate started to move slowly, giving way to the group. After a while, the gate was fully open.

"Move." The leader commanded, pushing the card master forwards. They were walking along a rocky path heading towards the city, according to the guards. The journey was conducted in silence, and Twisted fate took the time to look around. Along the way they crossed a village, filled with two-storey old brick houses, and poor-looking people on the streets, begging for money. It seemed that the whole village was poor.

 _Can't believe Demacia allows this kind of situations to happen in its states. The so-called "City of Justice"._

Several hours later (that was what Twisted fate thought), they came across a river, which he remembered well—Demacia was only a 20-minute walk away. There was only one major river near Demacia which led to the Conqueror's Sea—the ocean in the western part of the Valoran continent, nearby the Shadow Isles. There was a lone tree standing on the banks, reminding him that there wasn't much vegetation in this part of the river. Across the river he could briefly see the city wall of Demacia, the night lights glowing in the dark.

Then the leader guard spoke.

"You two, go and stand over there!" He pointed at the banks of the river.

"Wait, what do you want?"

"Just get your asses over there before I personally crush your skull into pieces!"

Twisted fate winked at Vayne, who glanced back at him for once. He was sure that there were no death penalties in Demacia—it was a well-known fact all around Valoran.

"And you," his head now facing the other guard, "push them down the river."

"What's the point of this? Killing us will not benefit you in any way!"

"Well, you might be surprised of why you would be killed for just entering the graveyard illegally. The truth is, we're operating alone. We are the judge, jury, and executioner. And I hereby sentence you…to death." He laughed wickedly after he finished.

Twisted fate detected that something was wrong—these people don't seem to be real Demacian soldiers. Maybe they were imposters?

"This is why you make your move here," Vayne said, her voice sounding completely different, not belonging to the Night Hunter. "You chose not to kill us in the graveyard because there are other officials there watching your every move. But here, you're free from any interference—and you can do whatever you want. And after you kill us, you're going to say that we tried to escape, so you took necessary measures to stop us. You can just walk away without any consequences."

"I can't believe you're that smart, woman. What you said is what I'm exactly going to do. She's way more intelligent than you, isn't she, red-hair? Anyway, it doesn't matter now because both of you will very soon depart from this world." He laughed again, taking out a small knife. "You either jump in the river yourselves or let me do it. Choose."

He held the knife and moved closer and closer to the two, forcing them to step backwards, nearer and nearer to their demise. They were only inches from falling into the river when someone shouted unexpectedly.

"Sir! Sir!"

"We don't have time, idiot! The Demacian official will be here anytime, and if we don't do it now he'll take them back to the headquarters, and then it will be ten times harder to eliminate them. You get it?"

"But sir, the official is already across the river! He's coming!"

"What?"

Indeed there was a small boat painted in white in the distance, a man sitting on the ship rowing with two wooden oars, heading towards them.

The man swore under his breath.

Twisted fate could see the Demacian official watch them with a pair of binoculars.

"All of you, get ready. If we cannot secure these prisoners ourselves, we're going to kill him. Then we deal with the red-hair and the woman. Understand?"

"Sir, how will we deal with his disappearance?"

"Shut up, let me deal with that! Just play your part."

The other two guards nodded.

Meanwhile, Twisted fate saw a wild change of events. There was someone who might be able to save them from death. He wondered what he was going to say to that man.

It seemed like an eternity when the boat finally arrived at the banks.

"Royal guard." The official greeted.

"Yes, Captain Henry," The royal guard smiled, extending his hand for a handshake. Instead, the official completely ignored his actions, and pointed at him, his face full of hostility,

"Your actions just now. Why were you pointing a knife at them? You wanted to push them down the river!"

"You misunderstood! They were rather uncooperative during our journey, so I had to show them who's boss. But that's it, I don't intend to hurt anyone."

Twisted fate had to admit that he was a professional in telling lies, possibly as good as he was. His face was surprisingly convincing—people would not hesitate to believe in every word he says.

But the Captain might have seen through his deceptive face and words.

"I swear you were ready to kill them! They were only one step away from the water! You are arrested for attempting to murder prisoners! Guards, come here and help me handcuff this guy!"

One guard walked forward to the Captain, holding a pair of handcuffs. As he stood just beside him, ready to arrest the Royal guard, he suddenly took out a knife and tried to stab the official. But the Captain reacted even quicker, drawing out his own sword and parrying his blow. He then kicked the man hard in the nuts. The unfortunate guard dropped to the ground, moaning in pain.

"You bastard!"

The royal guard was now holding his own sword, standing in a fighting stance. The leader continued to strike as they engaged in a sword duel. The other guard stood there in shock, not knowing what to do.

Twisted fate immediately spotted the perfect opportunity to escape as the dangerous leader was distracted. He had been practicing a new technique lately—the power to mentally control a card's movement.

 _Time to put it to the test._

He concentrated, closing his eyes. A card flew out of his pocket and dived at the unsuspecting guard's head, slicing through his neck. At the same time, two more cards cut through the card master's handcuffs. Now free of movement, he ran over to Vayne just as the leader was finished with his opponent, now laying on the ground, his body full of bruises and blood.

"Weakling. How dare he pick a fight with me." He turned around and saw his prisoners.

"Wait—how did you get rid of your handcuffs?"

He took out a radio and shouted at it,

"Backup needed right now! Prisoners attempting to escape. I repeat, backup needed right now!"

"Dammit, it will take time to kill that man and by the time we do we will be surrounded by their army. "

"We're getting out of here now. I'm sorry, Twisted fate, but you will need to use your teleport spell in front of him." Vayne replied.

Twisted fate slightly hesitated, but he knew that they were out of options—either they escape now or get arrested later on. So he channeled "Gate" and placed his hand on Vayne's shoulder.

"NO!' The leader hurled his sword at the two, but just as it was about to hit the gypsy, they faded and disappeared, and the sword merely dove into the river, completely missing its target.

He sighed and walked over to his fallen guard, leaning down and fetching the poker card that had taken his life.

"Can't believe we're dealing with…the infamous Card master himself."

Back at the hill, a black-feathered raven stood proudly on the edge of the cliff, observing the land below it, as if it was the king of the world. The hill was quiet, and so far it had not been disturbed.

Until an unfamiliar voice came from its back.

There was a white glow as two people materialized from the spot.

"That was a close call." Twisted fate sighed.

"Sure it was. Even I couldn't think of a way to escape from that river scenario."

The gypsy flashed his winning smile at Vayne as he got rid of the dust on his clothing with his hands.

"So now what? I'm pretty sure that despite how stupid they look, identifying the only person in the world that uses cards as weapons shouldn't be so much of a problem, and my disguise will surely not work anymore! I can't live without that!"

Vayne was motionless.

"For now, I advise you stay at my place first."

"Sounds like a plan to me. Let's go then."

He heard the cawing sounds of a raven as they set off for Vayne's house.

* * *

The duo was walking in the woods, the sounds of insects heard around the trees.

"The Demacian guards just now—there's something weird about them. First of all, they tried to kill us in secret, and—"

"I'm very sure now that King Jarvan is murdered. Someone wanted the truth buried with him, so they wanted any witnesses or anyone that is related killed. I suspect they are hiding something. Something big. I will report this to Prince Jarvan tomorrow, in case they move the body away, now we know that Demacia is corrupted. And for some reason, I didn't see them coming. I was staring at the moon and then the next second these people appeared behind me. They might have used teleportation magic, just like yours, or else I would have seen them the moment they were in sight."

"Someone uses teleportation magic in the Demacia military?"

"It's not officially authorized yet. Probably it's their private tool."

"Your bag—we failed to retrieve it when we escaped."

"I don't really care about a broken bow and some dispensable arrows. Basically, everything in the bag is replaceable."

Twisted fate saw a building in front of them. "Is that your house?"

In front of them was, he guessed, the House of Vayne. It was a three-storey large house and it looked like it had stood for decades, but still looked good as new.

Vayne did not reply. Minutes later they were indoors, as she changed back into her usual Night Hunter gear while Twisted fate wandered around the house.

There was a portrait of a family, which consisted of two adults and a young girl. It didn't take a few seconds for him to know that the girl was a young Vayne, and the two were her father and mother. He observed the whole room and found out that all the portraits in the room were related to her parents.

 _She must have missed her parents a lot. Wonder where they are right now._

Twisted fate was still pondering on the thought when Vayne stepped into the room in her "business" suit.

"So, you will sleep in the guest bedroom over there as long as you stay here. Do _**not**_ disturb me and do _**not**_ touch anything in my house. Or else."

"Yes, ma'am."

Satisfied, she turned back and went to her bedroom, closing the door.

 _What a tedious woman. She literally knows nothing about happiness._

Sighing, he headed straight to the directed bedroom. The room wasn't too large, but there was a bed which looked comfortable and cozy, a table and a closet.

He laid down, utterly drained by the events of the day. Thus, he decided to doze off no matter what. Not even a shower.

He closed his eyes and fell into a deep sleep.

* * *

"Owoooooooooooooooooooooooo—"

Twisted fate jumped out of bed.

He was nearly scared to death by the sudden howling sound. It was similar to a wolf's. But this sound was different. It was a long, mournful sound. It was possible that it belonged to an alpha wolf, or maybe…a werewolf.

 _This doesn't look good. I wonder if Vayne is on to it._

He tried to relax, comforting himself that it was just a lone wolf wandering around, and surely if the Night Hunter did not appear, then it wouldn't be a threat.

Then there was a second howl. Even louder than before.

Twisted fate started to feel nervous. What if the wolf was coming for him? Or maybe was there already a pack of them surrounding the house, waiting to strike at any second?

He convinced himself that he would be fine staying where he was, but his instincts told him something wasn't right. He had to make sure. So he got up from the bed, pushed open the window and looked outwards.

There was a forest in the distance, tall trees clumped together. There were maybe hundreds or thousands of stars in the sky—

 _Wait. The sky is red. Last time I checked it was black!_

His eyes swept the crimson sky in confusion, and the clouds were also red in colour. He then found the source of the red light.

A red full moon was hanging in the sky.

 _Why is the moon red? What if…it is the Blood Moon? Legends say that mythical creatures were born under a red full moon, like werewolves—impossible. This must all be an illusion. A trick played by some mage nearby._

Then he saw a figure in the midst of the forest. Its body was covered in grey fur. It had a pair of yellow, cold eyes staring at Twisted fate's. It had dagger-like teeth in his unusually large mouth, and claws as sharp as swords on its paws. His worst fears were confirmed.

It was a werewolf, as accurate as in the books. It licked its mouth as if it had longed for the taste of blood for centuries.

Their eyes met for a few seconds, both standing still.

The wolf howled again, this time the loudest. Then it made its first move.

It started running towards the house on its hind legs, as a human does. Soon it reached the open ground right below the window. It then inserted its sharp claws onto the wall and started climbing up, using it as support, step-by-step towards the window. It seemed that his victim tonight would be the Card master.

Twisted fate watched the whole scene. He realized that he could no longer stay in the room, so as he saw the wolf nearing the window, he ran to the door and opened it to escape. But something weirder happened.

The corridor was completely different from what he had seen a few hours ago. It was dimly lit with a lantern, the wall brown instead of white. There were doors on both sides for every seven feet, exactly facing each other. It was unusually foggy, and he could see only a few feet away.

 _This…this isn't possible!_

The gypsy was utterly confused about the situation. He checked his bedroom again and discovered it was exactly the same as it was before. The corridor was weird, but what choice did you have if there was a man-eating monster at your back? He had no choice but to go on.

He advanced step-by-step cautiously like a fox. The atmosphere was unpleasant and he had an eerie feeling that something was at his back, ready to pounce on him any moment. He looked back.

There was nothing.

He kept walking, still wary of his surroundings. The corridor never seemed to end, and the pattern never changed at all. He looked back again.

There was nothing.

He kept walking, even more wary of his surroundings. He predicted something sinister might happen soon.

Twisted fate had walked for hundreds of steps, and he still hadn't met the end of the corridor. He wondered when he would see the exit. He heard something.

 _The ringing of bells. I'm sure of it._

 _But I don't see any bells here._

He glanced around his surroundings. There was no visible bell but the ringing continued, even louder than before, and Twisted fate had no idea what it meant. At last, it became so loud that he felt that the bell was just beside his ears. He felt he would be deaf soon.

Something touched his arm.

He turned his head behind and saw something that made his blood run cold.

It was a corpse (he couldn't believe it), standing right behind him. Its features were unrecognizable, his body full of blood and rotten pieces of flesh. But his mouth could still be seen, the lips dried out and only a few teeth remaining.

It grabbed Twisted fate's neck using its right arm and held the card master up in the air.

"You! Why did you enter my graveyard?"

"Who…who are you?"

"Can't you recognize me? I'm King Jarvan the First!"

 _Is he the first king of Demacia? But he's dead for a long time—how did he revive? Can't believe that ghost story is true!_

"I'm asking you, why did you step in my graveyard. You had broken my precious years of peace! Now I can no longer rest well, because of you!"

Twisted fate still kept his mouth shut. Or maybe he was just too stunned to speak.

"You will pay for what you have done!" Jarvan tightened his grip. "With your life!"

Immediately after he finished Twisted fate felt something around his neck. He suddenly couldn't breathe. He looked down and saw bloody fingers around his neck, holding tightly.

He was being strangled by the fallen king. The gypsy couldn't shout or scream, but he saw himself coughing blood, and he felt his lungs bursting as his vision started to blur. He could see Jarvan smiling gruesomely and wickedly.

 _Is this how I'm going to die? By a zombie claiming himself to be once a King?_

Then he felt a sharp pain on his neck.

"Aaaarghhhhh!"

Twisted fate's eyes shot open, he himself breathing heavily. He looked around and saw the familiar bedroom of his—everything was normal. He placed both of his hands on his head in frustration, and slowly his memories returned to him—the blood moon, the werewolf, the living corpse…

It was then that he realized it was all a dream. Or more accurately, a nightmarish vision.

 _This feels more like reality than a dream. But why?_

Regardless, Twisted fate got out of his bed and opened the door, relieved to see a normal corridor. He then arrived at the living room and discovered a note on the table.

 _Went out for further investigation._

 _Don't get yourself into trouble._

— _Vayne_

"Leaving me alone." He muttered as he saw some bread on the table. _Good thing she left me something._

After breakfast, he went to the bookshelf and grabbed some books about mystical creatures that Vayne had been hunting for her whole life. The sheer number of monsters types appalled him—some of them had many heads, some of them had their organs in completely different positions, and some of them did not even technically exist—they were lost souls staying in the world. And Twisted fate did not fancy his chances if he met any one of them. _Can't believe she could handle all these disgusting creatures._

He did not acknowledge the fact that he had read for a whole day and it was nearly nine o' clock when he finished. Feeling hungry, he headed to the fridge, looking for something to munch on. He spotted a sandwich with a piece of meat in the middle. It wasn't a lot, but he had to fill his stomach urgently. So he grabbed the sandwich and bolted it down. All of a sudden an idea came into his mind.

 _Maybe I should pay a visit to Vayne's room now when she's not here._

At first Twisted fate rejected the idea, aware that he probably wouldn't have a good time if he was caught red-handed. But his curiosity took over his mind, and soon he found himself standing at his destination.

 _Alright. Let's do this._

He pushed open the door and stepped in.

Vayne's room looked similar to his, albeit with more pictures and drawings of her childhood. On her desk was a large crossbow…and a book.

Twisted fate stepped closer to the table and picked up the book. It wrote "My dear diary".

 _She has a diary?!_

He could no longer hold himself and flipped over the pages. The words were written in ink, and every page was full with no extra space left. It was written in a language unknown to him, so he did not read much of it.

The gypsy was about to put down the book when he suddenly turned over a page with a certain symbol on it, alongside a few words.

A heart shape. With the words "My love life".

 _Ooohhhh. She has a boyfriend?!_

Twisted fate's eyes instantly glowed with light, and he was interested in the diary once again, perhaps even more than before. He read on, hoping to at least see some names. He had no idea an emotionless woman like her had a hidden soft side. _The whole world will be shocked if this is disclosed to the public._

He heard the door move behind him.

 _Really? Vayne had to arrive at this particular moment?_

The gypsy turned around nervously and saw a brown-haired man in heavy armor instead, standing at the door and wielding a huge sword pointing at him. He was a gigantic man, a head taller than Twisted fate and his size significantly larger. He looked surprised, too.

 _Why does every Demacian always have a suit of armor and wield a sword?_

"Twisted fate? What are you doing here in Vayne's house?"

His eyes widened as he saw the intruder.

It was Garen Crownguard.

* * *

 **Author's note:**

 **Just when you think the gypsy is safe in the house! What will the uninvited guest do?**


	6. Chapter 5

"Garen?"

 _Why on earth would he be in Vayne's house at this hour?_

Without a word, he lunged at Twisted fate. Before he had a chance to draw out his gold card, the heavy man bumped into him with his body and sent him to the ground, with Garen landing on the gypsy.

"There will be no escape for you this time, old fox. You may have cheated many, but I'm certainly not one of them!"

Twisted fate could not retaliate—he knew his own strength was of an ant's when compared to the man in front of him. His first instinct was to tell Garen the truth but guessed that he would not believe any of it. He needed to outsmart Garen.

"Oh yeah? You can do what you want to me, but your friend's life…is on my hands."

Garen froze. The Demacian was famous for his caring personality, and the gypsy knew that as much as he wants to claim his bounty, he valued the lives of people above anything else.

"Impossible. Vayne is an outstanding duelist and she would not lose to a weakling like you!"

Twisted fate smirked.

"Well, I used a bit of my…special techniques. You can choose not to believe me, but it's all up to you. I'm always glad that I can take the Night Hunter along with me to hell."

It was a dangerous gamble. He had no contact with Vayne right now, and if Garen chose to ignore his threat, nothing would happen—literally. And he would have to face judgement at both Demacia and Piltover, not to mention facing the wrath of a certain enforcer's fist. The idea itself plagued him. His own fate was now depending on Garen's will.

Garen was clearly in thought, considering his actions. but he still pressured Twisted fate to the ground.

His heart was beating madly, his back sweating hard, but his face was calm despite his inner fear, trying to deceive the Might of Demacia as much as possible. Also, he couldn't stand the sheer weight of the Demacian—he felt a heavy rock on his shoulders.

A few seconds later Garen spoke.

"Where is she?"

"She's somewhere in this house, pretty safe…but she will likely die in a few days without anything to support her."

"You bastard," He growled.

"Call me whatever you like, but it won't benefit you in any way."

A few more seconds of silence. Twisted fate wondered whether he had crossed Garen's line.

"Fine. What can I do to convince you to give her back?"

 _This plan seems to work so far._

"You will let me go. I will tell you her location. "

"No. You will turn your back on me the second you are free. And you are never known for being trustworthy. What if you show me Vayne's location first, then I let you go?"

"You can do the same to me, and no matter how much your city emphasizes on "honesty" and "justice", I will not believe in your words. "

"Then you will give me a fair trade—or else I'll have no choice but to capture you."

 _Damn. Isn't that usually strong-looking, muscular things have small brains?_

"What if you prove to me that Vayne is still alive? It makes things a lot easier."

 _Won't do much harm anyway. If I showed him her face, he might change his mind. He's a good man, after all._

"Sure. Wait here as I channel my spell."

Using the spell Destiny, he tried to locate Vayne's location. If he found her, the image would be displayed on the Card of Destiny on his hand. He hoped that she was in the range of his spell.

 _C'mon, Vayne. Are you that cruel to abandon me to this brute?_

He waited for a few seconds, but still, nothing was shown on the card.

"Are you bluffing, Twisted fate? Because it doesn't seem like you have her."

At that precise moment, he found the presence of the Night Hunter.

"I'm not—she's right here."

An image gradually formed, and Garen poked his head near it, wondering what happened to his friend.

Vayne was in a dark room. If it wasn't for Destiny's ability to brighten up the sight to the caster, it would have been complete blackness. She was wearing a grey, ragged shirt, tied to a wall by steel chains, and appeared to had been beaten up, bruises and blood on her face and body.

She was actually in a cell, actually locked in chains, and actually seemed like she had been tortured.

 _Wait—this coincidence! This luck! How is this possible? But I did not do any of that! She's in real danger!_

However, in spite of his worries, the current situation obliged him to keep up his act, as the image was convincing enough for Garen.

"You—what did you do to her?" His face was furious, ready to punch someone really hard.

"It's the least of her worries. If she stays there for a longer time—minutes, hours or even days….hmph…."

"Tell me where she is!" His tone was commanding.

"I'll take you there, don't worry. As long as you give me your word that you will let me go the moment I set her free."

Garen tensed for a moment. He was clearly in doubt but in the end, he chose his friend's life over the gypsy.

"Deal."

Twisted fate had located Vayne's position. He confirmed that she was in an abandoned warehouse somewhere in the north-eastern part of Demacia, near the military base.

 _Why would she be there? And who actually is responsible for kidnapping Vayne?_

First of all, he could not take Garen to Vayne directly—he might be spotted by the potential kidnappers—and instead, he would have to take the Demacian to somewhere whilst he figured out how to slip away secretly.

 _There is a cave nearby._

 _A cave._

 _What a perfect place to make a silent getaway!_

Twisted fate had finally found hope in this situation—he had the chance to escape from the Demacian law. And he's going to take it.

"Follow me."

He led Garen out of the house, into the forest, and towards the cave. Fortunately for him, he had read a map in the house which showed the relief and geology of the place, and he remembered a particularly deep cave nearby, hundreds of meters deep under the land, which had an entrance on a small hill 300 meters away from their current location.

Garen followed the gypsy, never taking his sight off him, fearing that he would disappear in a second if he did not keep on guard. Twisted fate was unusually uncomfortable about that, though he understood that the man did not want to risk him escaping. The Might of Demacia was the first person in the world to have found the Card master alone, and surely he wouldn't want to lose the honor of capturing him successfully. Demacians favor pride above anything else, after all.

After a while, they reached the cave entrance. The card master led him into the darkness, using one of his glowing cards to brighten up the place. He had no idea where it led to, so he observed every inch of his surroundings, hoping to find something that might inspire him.

He felt like half an hour passed when they saw a small pool of water in a corner of the cave. Then he saw a brown creature sweeping just above his head.

"Yikes!" he shouted. After the scare, he looked back and identified the creature as a bat. They were common in caves, and especially active at night.

"Move on," said Garen. "Don't be a scaredy-cat."

He was right—Twisted fate was scared by a small bat as if he saw the Baron Nashor itself. Quite hilarious, to be honest. He grunted and kept on moving.

So far, there was no opening for Twisted fate. _Maybe Lady Luck chose not to be with me on this particular day?_

And then he saw a hole. It was blocked by a huge boulder, but it did not cover fully so Twisted fate could peek inside. It was another path heading deeper. Maybe he could try his luck here.

"A few more steps along this route and we will be seeing Vayne. You told me to not use any magic, so would you kindly open the passage for us?"

"You sure? I doubt you have the strength to even move this thing. Are you trying to mislead me by randomly pointing directions?"

"I'm trying to make a fair bargain here—I let Vayne go and you let me go. I gain nothing if I escape because I will retain my fugitive status and it will be a lot easier to catch me if you know my location. And I'm trusting you to be faithful with our bargain. So why don't you trust me?"

None of his words were real, but he knew that Garen did not know much about him and had no idea that he was possibly one of the best liars in the world and was convincing in whatever he said, no matter how untrue it was. And the Might of Demacia's kind heart told him that this might be the truth.

"Wait for me as I move this rock away."

As Garen was pushing the boulder using all his might, Twisted fate realized that this was the last chance of ever getting away. Once Garen discovered that there was nothing behind the rock, it would be all over for him, no matter how he excused himself. He tiptoed and headed towards the exit, goosebumps on his skin as he prayed in his heart that Garen would not turn around.

But the Demacian sensed the gypsy's missing presence.

"Where're you going now? We're not done here!"

 _Why, Lady Luck? Why did you do this to me?"_

Twisted fate ran as fast as he could, but it was dark and he failed to spot a rock on the trail. He tripped and fell over as Garen reached him.

"I knew you were lying the moment I was told you had her. Even I almost fell for your trick—but as an almighty Demacian I will conquer even the most strenuous of tasks—which includes capturing one of the most wanted men of Valoran!"

That was the last thing he heard before he saw Garen's fist heading for his head.

 _This is it. This is the end._

* * *

"Did you read today's newspaper?"

"No. What happened?"

"Didn't you know? Twisted fate was in the Royal Graveyard yesterday!"

"What? What is he doing in our city?"

"I don't know. I wonder what he's doing in Demacia. Maybe he's out of places to hide?"

Two Demacian soldiers were chatting in the military camp about the card master's whereabouts.

"Hey, is that Commander Garen?"

A huge man was in the distance, approaching the soldiers. Instantly they stood in military posture and bowed to Garen.

Their jaws dropped.

Because the Might of Demacia was carrying a man who looked very much like a gypsy.

"Jesus Christ! Is that…the most wanted person in Piltover?"

"I was lucky today. I originally went to pay a visit on Vayne, but coincidentally I met this criminal. Good thing he failed to escape from me. I'm taking him to the authorities for his actions yesterday."

"Wait, I heard the ransom on him is –"

Garen shot him a dirty look.

"He will be trialed with justice first. What happens to him will be decided by him later on. For now, don't reveal him to Piltover."

"Yes, sir."

Garen kept on walking as Twisted fate slowly awoke from his coma.

 _Where am I? What happened to— I'm carried by Garen! Great lord! What am I supposed to do?_

He glanced around. Judging by the stern-looking soldiers and a large tank in the distance, he deduced that he was in the military base of Demacia. It was near impossible for him to escape now.

 _Great. I wonder how long I'll spend in prison._

But there was one thing that still troubled him.

 _What happened to Vayne?_

* * *

There were crowds of people at the entrance of the Supreme Court of Demacia, the most powerful of all in the state. For every person in Demacia was eager to see the magnificent Card Master themselves—he was the topic of discussion for years, but no one had ever seen him in person. Though his records of crimes were notorious in the whole of Valoran, he was surprisingly respected and admired, as his tales of evading even the toughest of opponents had entertained many people.

At the same moment, the man himself was standing in front of the jury's desk, as high-ranking officials sat around him on their respective benches. The sound of a hammer's knock could be heard.

"Silence! Today our case involves a man named Twisted fate, as he calls himself, who is the most wanted criminal in Piltover and has cheated the law for years. Two days ago, he illegally entered the Demacian Royal Graveyard, accompanied by an unnamed woman. They intend to smuggle King Jarvan III's body but were discovered by our guards. They were captured, but the two successfully escaped and killed one guard and a Captain. The woman's identity is yet to be known, but Twisted fate has confessed to having committed this act. According to the Law of Demacia, his crimes include illegally entering the Graveyard and murder. After consideration, we officially sentence Twisted fate to life imprisonment. This sentence cannot be shortened by any means."

It wasn't long until Twisted fate was held by military soldiers and ushered out into a carriage as the crowd desperately tried to see his very face, despite being rejected by the officials.

* * *

"You will be staying here for your entire lifetime. And don't you ever think of escaping, because I'm not as idiotic as those you've met before."

The gypsy grunted. He was wearing ordinary prison wear, orange in colour with white stripes. He glanced around his cell. There was a bed, a table, a chair and a caldron. There was a stone door which was the only way out, just locked by the guard. Nothing else. Not even a window. Just stone walls. There was a lamp at the ceiling, the only light source from the room.

"For your information, we had placed you in the deepest dungeon of our prison, heavily guarded by our top-tier men. You won't be able to break through that iron door, and we're dropping food for you from the hole in the ceiling up there, so you won't be seeing anyone in your cell. Luckily your location is also confidential so basically, no one in the world has the information to save you. Give up, Twisted fate. You're not as invincible as you think."

The gypsy had visited and broken out of numerous prisons during his career, but this time the man was right—Demacian prisons had a completely different level of security. Twisted fate was drugged before he was sent to the dungeon, so he had no idea where he was in Demacia, and seen nothing of the prison except the very room he was in (when he woke up he was already in there). The card master also could not cast any type of spell, for he had no cards with him (obviously), and his mana was drained before he was sent here. Seemed like this time there was not a single mistake made by the guards.

Escaping the prison was beyond the bounds of possibility.

"Enjoy yourself here, gypsy. Be glad that we did not take you to Piltover. Maybe next time, I might play some poker with you. Oh, wait, I can't bring any cards, right? Almost fell for your trick, Card master."

Twisted fate looked around the cell as the guard locked the door and left. For years he was the one taunting his pursuers, leaving his signature Ace of Spades in crime scenes. And now it was the opposite. How ironic.

 _Well, I might as well accept my fate._

Feeling bored, he jumped into bed and stared at the ceiling, closing his eyes slowly as sleep overtook him.

 _I wonder what happened to Vayne. Hopefully, she would get out from whoever did that to her._

He recalled the moments of fun in the past when he was still able to gamble in bars, and the friends he had made. He remembered Graves, his longtime partner. They had worked together in the past for years until he betrayed him for the magic powers he had now. Since then he had been playing "hide and seek" with his former ally, enjoying the satisfaction when he saw Graves's furious and annoyed face.

 _I miss those times. Too bad I'll bore myself to death here first…._

"I'd like to see the prisoner—"

Twisted fate opened his eyes upon hearing that. He did not acknowledge the fact that he had slept for a few hours, and was woken up by the noise.

"Very well. It is usually restricted to visit prisoners, but I can make an exception for you."

 _Who would look for me? Is it Vayne? I'm saved! I'M SAVED!_

The gypsy suddenly felt excited. He could be free from his endless years of suffering!

As the footsteps became louder, he thought of the questions he would ask her; what happened to her, how did she know which prison he was in, what had she done in the warehouse…

He strolled to the exit and peeked at the hallway using the square hole in the middle of the door. A group of guards—and a woman—turned round the corner and faced Twisted fate.

"Here you go. I'll give you a maximum of 10 minutes to speak to him, albeit I have no idea why you would have something to say with this criminal."

He looked at the visitor as the guards took their leave.

The woman was a guard, not the one he was looking forward to.

The visitor was a man. Or rather, a man of royalty.

The man unlocked the door and opened it.

"Prince Jarvan."

The door was now opened. He saw the temptation of running towards the exit, and to freedom…but he knew that it was of no use.

"The infamous card master himself. I thought you were a professional escape artist."

"Not when your Demacian poster boy gets in my way."

Jarvan smiled. "Garen is a great man, isn't he? Demacia has yet to thank him well for his contributions. "

"He isn't brainy enough. And he is anything but diplomatic when he negotiates with me."

"Enough of this fancy talking. I'm not here to amuse you. In fact, I have a very serious question to ask you."

Jarvan took the chair and sat down. He raised his voice.

"What do you want with my father's body?"

* * *

 **Author's note:**

 **In a day Twisted fate has transported from a comfortable house to the dreaded dungeon of Demacia(what a pity). How will he explain the situation to Jarvan IV?**


	7. Chapter 6

"Why were you in the graveyard that night?"

Jarvan's face was dead serious with a hint of anger in his voice. His light-heartedness had faded.

"Do you know how much we respect the dead? Especially my father. They are to rest peacefully in the ground and undisturbed. And you, along with that woman, had successfully tried to disrupt their peace! For bloody money!"

Twisted fate was considering what to tell the prince. He could definitely make up stories but in the end, he would remain in the cell, staying there until his body starts to rot. On the other hand, if he disclosed the information related to his father, it might pique his interest—and they might be able to talk business.

"Sir, I have reason to believe that your father was murdered."

Jarvan stared at him wide-eyed for a few seconds before replying,

"Don't fool with me. You seriously think that there is still someone in the world who is foolish enough to hear your words—"

"I swear that I'm telling the truth this time. And I've got enough evidence to prove my words. You don't want to accept that your father died of an ordinary heart attack, do you? Just listen to what I'm going to say."

The prince raised his eyebrows slightly.

"Well, listening to a story from you won't do much harm anyway. So go on. I'm interested."

"I was originally uninterested in this affair until the Night Hunter came to me and asked to teleport her to the graveyard in secret. I was reluctant, but she basically forced me to do it, so I had no choice. She told me she suspected that your Highness's death was not due to the heart attack. When we got there, she found traces of dark magic in his body, which is completely unrelated to natural causes. We were about to investigate further when those Demacians found us, and after our escape, I stayed in Vayne's house and…well, you know the rest. But my point is that you should really look further into your father's death. It's not as simple as it seems."

Jarvan was silent, his hand supporting the weight of his chin as he stared intently at the gypsy.

"Hmph. This looks very convincing. Actually part of me has suspected my father's true cause of death. And you're telling me that the woman is Vayne herself?"

"Yes."

"Some of our men are killed! She won't do something like that, Twisted fate. She does not kill innocent people!"

"But those people aren't innocent. If you ask Vayne, she will tell you that there is serious corruption in Demacia! The men that attacked us last night are one of them!"

"I need Vayne to prove it. Where is she then, if you know so much?"

"I told Garen that she was kidnapped by someone. Not by me, but the image that I showed him was real."

"Well, he told me that it was all a hoax and your words are not to be trusted. And I'm gonna agree with him on this one."

"I'm genuinely telling the truth, prince, and Vayne is in real danger!"

"The Night Hunter is more than capable of holding her own. She never required assistance from anyone. And I know what you ultimately want is to get out of this dull cell, so I will surely not let you take even a step outwards. I'm sorry, Twisted fate, but I would have believed you if you weren't such a douchebag and so famous in utilizing the art of deception."

Twisted fate expected him to say that; after all, who would believe a long-time liar?

"I'll take my leave, Card master. Your story is pretty entertaining though. Until next time."

He stood up and headed towards the cell door, leaving a disappointed and crestfallen Twisted fate alone once again.

* * *

Jarvan IV decided to host a dinner party at his house because he had been busy for the month and hadn't had any spare time. So at 7 pm, he was sitting at the dining table with his guests. Actually, all the guests were his known friends. They were Garen, Lux, Sona, Fiora, Shyvana, and Quinn.

"I still can't take in the fact that a great king has left us only days ago." Garen sighed.

"Events can't be reversed, Garen. We have no choice but to accept."

Jarvan turned to face the table and announced,

"Everyone, listen! It has been nearly half a year since we have gathered. Quite a long time, to be honest. I know something drastic had happened in Demacia recently, but let's forget about all of our burdens and enjoy our precious night together!"

All of them cheered, raising their glasses of wine and clinked theirs with others.

"I miss these days." Lux grinned as she clinked her glass with Jarvan's.

"Good ol' days, isn't it," he replied. Then he realized that there was an empty chair between him and Quinn. Quinn seemed to notice this too, and asked,

"We all know that Xin isn't coming today—he had some military affairs to solve, but where's she? She came every time we had dinner."

The words of Twisted fate resurfaced in Jarvan's mind.

 _Impossible. I'm not going to tell anyone about that._

"She didn't reply my invitation, so I presume she's busy for the time being. Probably she will come later."

They chatted for a while casually, discussing the soon-to-be King—Jarvan IV.

"Jarvan, you have to deliver a speech a few days later right?"

"Yep. I'll have to talk about how we're going to deal with the problems left by my father's death, and some of the policies I might implement when I become king. I'm pretty well-prepared though, so just sit back and watch my show."

They also talked about some compelling adventure stories from Quinn, and some gossip involving romance topics.

"I saw Ezreal in your house last week, Lux," Shyvana teased.

"Why didn't I know that?" Garen questioned. "What did you do with him?"

Lux's face turned bright red like a tomato in less than a second.

"NOO! NOO! NOOOOO! I just…had something to discuss with him, so I invited him to my house. But seriously, there's nothing more than that—I swear!"

It was somewhat comical and funny to see Lux blushing this hard. Everybody laughed, except the poor young woman. Quinn decided to get Lux out of the embarrassing situation.

"Ok, let's not discuss this further. You see, I have some problems with some diplomatic policies of the Frejlord, so can any of you give me some suggestions?"

As the discussion switched to being a political one, Jarvan stood up and went to the balcony to look at the night view, uninterested in affairs involving the Frejlord.

In front of him was a glimmering city, dozens of street lights on the roads. Many buildings were in sight, closely packed together. There was a particularly tall and humongous building—Jarvan recognized it to be the College of Magic, the main center for magical learning within the Kingdom and produced many skilled mages, such as Lux. It looked magnificent and impressive.

In just a few years Demacia had transformed into a modern city, with help from Piltover. Jarvan had dreamt of this since he was young, and now it came true. The prince was proud to be a Demacian.

 _If only my father could see the glorious future of our city!_

Suddenly, he heard an unnerving sound from above. It was loud, for it seemed that all of them had heard the noise and looked upwards at the white ceiling. Then it came again.

Jarvan had heard a similar voice before when he was facing a monster together with Vayne. The creature was called a "mist walker" if he recalled correctly. _It couldn't be—_

Black smoke emerged from the ceiling, and it kept going downwards, straight towards the ground. Almost instantaneously all the Demacians readied their own weapons, preparing themselves for whatever would happen ahead.

The unknown smoke was now near the ground, floating in mid-air. Then it started to transform, the smoke twisting itself. Within seconds it turned from a gas-like thing into a creature with white pale skin, two claws, and a tail; no legs. It had a mouth full of sharp teeth, but there was nothing else on its face.

This monster looked similar to the one he met before. Except that it looked more menacing and disturbing.

"What…. what the hell is this?" Lux asked, fear present in her voice.

"They are monsters from the Shadow Isles!" The prince extended his lance and dashed swiftly towards the mist walker, piercing his spear into its body. The monster screamed in an inhumane and ear-piercing sound, freaking out most of the Demacians.

Then it extended its jaw and sunk its teeth into the prince's left shoulder, causing him to yell in agony as he pressed his shoulder with his other hand.

"Jarvan!" Fiora lunged at the monster and unleashed a barrage of blade strikes so quickly that one could not see her movements. Then she leapt into the air just when the mist walker was revealed to be sliced into pieces. Strangely, no blood came out from its corpse. If it wasn't for the grave condition of Jarvan, all of them would have applauded for her superior skills. Fiora went to Jarvan and assessed his shoulder.

"It's ok, Fiora. It's nothing too serious."

She turned around. "Send for the medics, now!"

"Guys," Shyvana shouted to capture attention and pointed upwards with her finger. "We got more company."

From the ceiling multiple smoke trails appeared, slowly changing into their physical forms. They looked exactly like the first intruder.

"Demacia!" Garen roared, running towards one of the mist walkers. Shyvana turned into her dragon form and breathed fire at them. Quinn launched a flurry of arrows while Valor provided an effective distraction. Lux cast beams of light magic at the monsters. Fiora defended Jarvan by fighting off mist walkers threatening him. Sona stayed behind, trying to heal and support the Demacians using her Etwahl. Jarvan had no choice but to spectate the whole fight since he was wounded.

The creatures were fierce-looking and their jaws were capable of biting through metal but at the same time, they had rather tough skin which ordinary swords would find difficult to pierce through. However, the monsters were relatively slow, thus Quinn took advantage of this and shot arrows at them while keeping distance, wearing them down. Melee fighters tried their best to stab the monster's bodies whilst defending themselves against the sharp teeth.

A few minutes later the Demacians seemed to slowly gain the upper hand due to the mist walkers being unable to dodge ranged weapons and spells. Slowly each of them fell, disappearing into ashes and never to be seen again.

One of the creatures seemed to be interested in the relatively weaker backline, so it dissolved itself into smoke, preventing any physical attacks from the Demacians, and flew towards Lux. The blonde light mage noticed that and readied a spell.

"I will illuminate you, freak!"

A huge laser beam was fired at the monster, the brightness itself able to blind anyone who directly looked at it. The spell could easily destroy anything in its path.

"Nice one, Lux." Jarvan smiled for the first time since the first mist walker entered the room. Lux gave him a cheeky smile as a response.

But suddenly black smoke appeared behind Lux and materialized, revealing it to be the supposedly-dead monster. The mist walker was never in range of Lux's beam, dodging it before the spell was fired. Jarvan watched in horror as it inserted its claw into Lux's back.

"LUX!"

He had to save her. Since everyone else was occupied, he crawled to his lance slowly using his unhurt arm as support. He even forgot that he had wounded himself. As he grabbed his weapon, he used all his might to hurl the lance at the mist walker. With great accuracy, it flew straight through its head, separating it from the body. It dropped to the ground, lifeless.

The prince then spent a few seconds to stand up, and then stumbled to the woman's side.

"My back…it's so painful. And I can't move my hands—AARGH!"

"Don't speak of anything now. Your spine is badly damaged now, so let me carry you to the medics."

"Am….am I going to die?"

"No, you will not Lux. You will stay strong and survive through this! The medics are coming!"

"But I feel...I feel like I can't take it anymore…."

"Don't you say that Lux. Don't you stop—"

She closed her eyes as her muscles relaxed. Her body no longer moved.

"DON'T YOU DARE!" He knelt down and shook the girl vigorously, but with no success.

"What? What happened to my sister?" Garen ran to Jarvan and saw her sister on the floor.

"No, no no no no NO!" Her brother was desperate, tears flowing out of his eyes. Although Jarvan was not as emotional as Garen, he was also devastated by her in his heart. The Lady of Luminosity had been a memorable addition to the roster, and she was the most cheerful among them. Whenever the prince was unhappy, she would crack some jokes to cheer him up. She always had a smile on her face even at the most desperate of times. And now she was on the brink of death.

Meanwhile, Sona was drifting over to the group. Her face was of horror when she saw Lux. Immediately she played a tune with her Etwahl and a green aura formed and surrounded Lux.

"Please, Sona. Heal her with any way you can think of." Garen pleaded, his voice slightly hoarse.

The maven nodded and continued. Just then, the door was opened by men dressed in white uniform. They were holding boxes with a red cross on it. There was also people dressed in military uniform right behind them.

"Medics! Medics! Thank goodness you're here. Come and save Miss Crownguard!"

While the medics, Sona and Garen were attending to Lux's situation, Jarvan stood up and looked around. The room was a disaster after the attack. The dining table was flipped over, food and broken glass on the floor. The chandelier was on the ground, in pieces. Shyvana's fire kept burning in the ruins of wood.

Quinn and Fiora had a few bruises but not suffering any major injuries. Shyvana had just changed back into her human form and was panting for breath. The medics took care of the injured while the newly-arrived military officials ensured that all threats were fully eliminated.

But perhaps the most worrisome case was Lux. She had lost a lot of blood, and even with Sona's healing and the medic's help, Jarvan was unsure whether they were able to save her. Her body was the most fragile when compared to her fellow Demacians.

The prince felt that something was missing. He remembered that whenever he had to fight this kind of creatures, there was someone beside him, giving him invaluable advice in killing those monsters and wielded a weapon specially designed to kill them.

 _Vayne. Yes, it's her. Where is she? She is always there to help if any of the monsters attacked. Why didn't she show up today in this event?_

Something had definitely happened to Vayne. Jarvan doubted that at first, but now it seemed more plausible. And he was sure that no one had a clue of the Night Hunter's whereabouts—she was mysterious and unpredictable.

But he knew someone who might. Despite him knowing that the man was untrustworthy.

* * *

It had been nearly four hours since Twisted fate stared at the wall ceaselessly, his body motionless as a statue. He wasn't really thinking of anything, just aimless staring.

The gypsy was already hungry, not having anything since the day before, but he could not work out the actual time. In other words, he lost the track of time, no having a single idea of whether it was day or night. And no one was there to talk to him. He was downright alone.

 _Staying in this place feels like torture every second. I wonder how I will spend my time here for the rest of my life._

For some reason, he started to question his own existence in the world. Perhaps only those who were desperate would think of this.

 _Do I survive just for being a thief? Stealing from people? Going to jail over and over again, then breaking out? What's the point of this kind of life?_

And then he heard something. Just like yesterday? He wasn't sure when Jarvan had last visited him.

 _Why is he here again? Perhaps he changed his mind?_

He waited as he heard footsteps once again, certain that it wouldn't mean anything good. He had learnt in his past experience to not have confidence in false hope.

 _The footsteps seemed to be more frequent. Perhaps there were multiple—_

He saw three men turn the corner. They were all dressed in black, like ninjas he had seen in Ionia before. Or maybe they were real ninjas.

"Who are you people?"

"This information is irrelevant. You just need to know one thing."

The men drew out knives from their backs.

"We're here to end you."

* * *

 **Author's note:**

 **Another death threat to Twisted fate! (Duh.) How will the mist walker attack affect the Demacians? And who organized it?**


	8. Chapter 7

Twisted fate eyed suspiciously at the men who had just threatened him with death. _Who are these people? Why will they kill me? And how did they even get in here in the first place?_

"We are sent by our superiors to eliminate you, Twisted fate. You pose a significant threat because of your recent activities in the graveyard."

The gypsy didn't have the slightest idea why the graveyard was so important to them. He raised his eyebrows.

"And the woman. We already know who she is. I can't believe that she is, in fact, the Night Hunter that we all fear and respect. But that's no longer the case."

"So it's you who kidnapped her." Twisted fate gnashed his teeth. "What do you want with her?"

"Oh. You already know she's kidnapped? I thought it will take over a month until someone finally suspected she was missing! Gives me more reason to kill you as soon as possible. Anyway, she probably won't have any good outcomes because…well, who doesn't want to be the ultimate killer of the Night Hunter? But you aren't any better. You are the true pest that has poisoned Valoran for years! My father…he was killed during your bank heist in Piltover. Do you know how long I've waited for the chance to personally kill you! And now I will avenge him by bringing you with him to the afterlife."

Twisted fate was surprised that the would-be-assassin was indirectly related to the bank heist. But he had actually regretted his actions during the Piltover theft. For years he had spent his time gambling to earn pieces of gold but never had to take away anyone's life during the process. Yet that time, he had thrown his lethal cards at innocent civilians and policemen. They did not deserve death. And he felt a pang of guilt within his heart for the first time. He had sworn, during his stay in the house in Ionia, that he would never cross that line again—unless he faced evil people.

 _Maybe this is my destiny. To be killed by my victims._

He sighed, lowering his head and stared at the grey stone floor.

"I have a question. Why is the graveyard so important to Demacia? I don't suppose trespassing it should be treated with a death penalty."

"Hmph. Since you're going to die soon, it wouldn't be harmful to tell you this. Truth be told, King Jarvan III did not die of a heart attack. He was murdered. We did not want anyone to accidently discover the truth. And it was the Night Hunter herself who visited his grave! Imagine if she found out that someone had killed the King! We don't want any further investigation."

"So you were the one who killed him?"

"Not me. Someone else did. I was paid to cover the truth and finish off any witnesses."

"I don't think you can get in here. The door is as hard as iron. You can't just kick your way in…right?"

"That's unnecessary, Card master. Why do all that hard work if you have the keys?" The ninja took out a set of keys and showed it to the horrified Twisted fate. He turned the key and the door opened. He and his accomplices stepped in.

"Now that we're done talking, you will now pay for your crimes."

He drew out a twisted dagger from his back. Twisted fate trembled slightly.

"Sharp, isn't it? I've killed many people with this—and you'll be the next one."

Just then, the gypsy saw a figure in the passageway far away, walking into the dungeon. He gasped.

"What's happening here?"

The assassins were apparently shocked by the sudden voice. They turned and saw the visitor.

It was Prince Jarvan IV.

"Sir Lightshield." The cold-blooded assassins looked at Jarvan. Then they pulled out their weapons and showed them to the prince.

"You're a good fighter, Jarvan. But you can't beat three well-trained assassins. Now back off or I'll kill you along with him."

Jarvan's face was of anger, but he backed off. However, he still held his lance tightly.

"How dare you trespass Demacian justice! You won't get away with this!"

"Really? Why do you care for him so much? You're a prince, he's just a son of a ***** who only steals for survival. I bet you also want him dead, right? We're just here to help you do the dirty work. Now stay away and we'll spare you altogether, or else."

"It isn't justified to kill someone who's only sentenced to life imprisonment!"

"Actually, there's no difference in life imprisonment and death. I'm just here to end your suffering. Right, Twisted fate?"

Twisted fate said nothing, his face of desperation and despair.

"I can sense your every move, Jarvan. Don't attempt any sneaky attacks." The assassins, seemingly satisfied with the result, turned back to Twisted fate. Their grins returned.

'So, let us continue. You think the prince would save you? You'll be disappointed to know that your death is still inevitable, Twisted fate. Embrace yourself, Card master."

He looked around. No one was here to save him this time. He couldn't save himself without his cards. He couldn't beat these assassins hand-to-hand. Jarvan—he couldn't do anything. Right? He saw Jarvan take out something from his pocket. Jarvan raised his hands.

It was a poker card.

Twisted fate blinked in surprise. He narrowed his eyes slightly to confirm what he had seen, but at the same time didn't want the assassins to notice.

The card was what he desired most in this situation. But wasn't his mana drained earlier? How could he utilize the card?

Anyone who had practiced magic for many years generates a small "base mana pool" in their bodies, which could regenerate itself, unlike the typical mana pool which required mana for sustain. Strangely, this portion of mana cannot be taken away by any means—unless the person was dead, it was combined with the body so the users could draw mana from it anytime, even if there was no mana in the mana pool. However, it only provided mana for casting a few cheap spells (not mana-consuming ones like Destiny). Right now, Twisted fate could use that portion of mana to telepathically control the card Jarvan was holding, and use it to his own bidding. A card, when used by the card master, was deadly and lethal.

Jarvan's moved his eyebrows suggestively. Twisted fate knew what to do.

He closed his eyes and activated the mana in his body. Far away, the symbol on the card glowed in blue colour. It flew out of Jarvan's fingers and went straight for the men, swirling mid-air.

"You're right. My death is inevitable. But it's not going to happen tonight."

"Oh, I see that your confidence has returned. How are you going to get out of this?"

"You'll understand. Now."

As he spoke the flying card went through his body. Through his heart.

The assassin felt nothing. Absolutely nothing at all. His vision blurred in an instant. He did not have even enough time to acknowledge that he was already dead.

The card, still in motion and swirling, then proceeded to murder the remaining two men in the same way. Then it returned like a boomerang and sliced through Twisted fate's handcuffs. At the exact same moment, the three men collapsed onto the ground.

Having eliminated all three men, Twisted fate reclaimed the card as it returned. He then walked out of the cell and along the corridor with light footsteps. He saw his savior right behind the corner.

"Why did you save me? I thought you gave up on me yesterday."

"No time to explain now, Twisted fate. After we escape, I'll tell you everything."

"How are we going to get out of this prison? You can't just bring me along with you. They won't let me out! They drained my mana before, so I can't teleport out of here. Unless there is any source of mana around…"

"Here's the problem: I still cannot fully trust you yet, and to make sure that you're not going anywhere else, I am going to bring you out of here myself. So here is an invisibility potion. You will be undetectable by anyone for five minutes after drinking this, enough time for us to get to my carriage, which is parked outside, so you're going to sneak out of this prison and leave." He took out a bottle with colourless liquid in it to prove his point.

"It's your only chance, Twisted fate, to get off this life sentence. Treasure it."

"Well of course, no one would refuse free get-out-of-jail cards," the gypsy winked, taking the potion from the prince and drinking all of it in one gulp. It tasted… bitter. Extremely bitter such that he almost vomited. But he controlled himself, and barely threw up.

A few seconds have passed and he could still see his own body.

"There's no change, Prince Jarvan. Is anything wrong?"

"What? But I can't see you! Surely you should have gone invisible!"

Jarvan was looking left and right as if Twisted fate was completely invisible to him. It made sense—while others were unable to see you, you should be able to see yourself, theoretically. Then he had a great idea.

He could literally disappear from Demacia at this moment. He could escape.

It was tempting, for he had a chance to get out of this mess, back to his carefree life. On the other hand, what would happen to the missing Vayne? He felt guilty leaving her behind, but he had never cared about others in the past…why would he do so now?

In only a few days, he had to make many different decisions affecting his life. And he wasn't sure what to choose in this one.

He felt someone pat on his shoulder.

 _Wait… I thought I'm invisible?_

"Relax, Twisted fate. You see, I brought some handy technology from Piltover, and one of them is a tracking device which I had installed in your pocket. Along with this electronic map, I can locate you easily."

He reached into his pocket, and unexpectedly there was a device inside locked on to his trousers, so he could not just take it out and throw it away.

"I installed it onto you while you weren't looking. Don't be surprised.

 _I didn't know that Jarvan was this cunning._

"As a reminder, the potion effect lasts only for five minutes, so if I were you I would abandon any plans of escaping alone and follow me to the carriage instead. Don't make any sounds or talk to me in the meantime. And if you want to get out of this alive, don't kill me or any innocent ones along the way." He then started walking towards the staircase.

The prince was right. There was absolutely no chance of leaving alone, after all. And for the worst, he had no mana to help him survive outside (it would take days for his inner mana pool to regenerate). He actually wasn't even sure where the dungeon was located.

The gypsy followed the prince downstairs as quietly as possible, not making any noise. He expected to see dozens of guards, but strangely they only met a few guards patrolling the area. When they saw Jarvan they politely bowed at him, not noticing an invisible person standing just a few inches away from them. The gypsy stopped breathing whenever they met guards, and luckily they did not suspect anything.

Once he almost bumped into a guard—in the last two seconds he turned away from his original course and narrowly avoided a collision, which would undoubtedly reveal his presence.

Soon they were out of the prison gate. The sky was black and cloudy, with only lampposts as light sources. There was a large road circle with green plants in the middle. The floor was made of grey bricks. There was a red well-decorated carriage parked on the road, with two brown horses in the front, each fastened with a halter around their heads. There was a compartment at the back, large enough for six passengers. It wasn't difficult to deduce that it was a royal's carriage.

Twisted fate took a deep breath. He did not expect to breathe in clean, crisp air again so quickly after his sentence. Did he hear the sound of…waves? The card master walked forward and was surprised.

The prison was on the edge of an island with a bridge connecting to the mainland. They were surrounded by water. The only possible way out of the island was the bridge. The gypsy felt relieved that he didn't try to escape himself.

Jarvan made sure that no one was watching them.

"Get on the carriage, now!"

Not wanting to fall behind, he ran and climbed on the vehicle with the folding step. Jarvan himself was sitting on the driver's seat. He whistled and whipped the horses. Within seconds Twisted fate sat in the comfortable seats in the compartment, while they were crossing the bridge, on their way to Jarvan's mansion. Twisted fate wanted to see what the prison looked like, but he hadn't slept for quite a while and the potion's side effects were kicking in. He fell asleep before he even knew it.

* * *

"Here we are, Twisted fate. Get up."

They had arrived at Jarvan's mansion. The prince parked his carriage right outside his house and was trying to wake the gypsy up.

"Ugh…" He was feeling uncomfortable but decided not to tell anyone. His feet landed on the ground as he followed Jarvan into the mansion.

"I had no idea that I was locked on an island! I thought I was in the dungeon beneath the palace!"

"That was a newly-built prison in the middle of a river. Not much people know about this place."

"I thought I were heavily guarded, but I don't see more than 10 guards during our escape."

"Our prisons are pretty safe and secure, so at night there aren't too many guards on duty. Especially this late. The prisoners could never escape on their own. That being said, you're lucky someone like me gets to help you."

"Do you know who those assassins are?"

"I have no idea. Must not be Demacians though. We never hired assassins, unlike Noxus."

"What would happen if they discovered I broke out of prison? The assassins' bodies are still there!"

"Usually no one visits the dungeons themselves. They only throw your food down to you from a hole in the wall, right? It will take some time before they find out, enough time for us to finish our business."

"You finally took my word that Vayne was truly missing?"

"We'll discuss more of that when we get in."

They were in front of the door, and Jarvan rang the bell. They waited.

A woman opened the door. She wore shiny brown armor covering all of her body except her face. A blue bird with large wings stood on her shoulder. Twisted fate immediately recognized her.

It was Quinn.

"Prince Jarvan, and…Twisted fate." Her eyes greeted him with utmost hostility, and even Jarvan noticed that.

"Quinn. Where are the others?"

"They're waiting for you in the sitting room."

"Good."

They walked along the corridor. On the walls were paintings and portraits of the Lightshield family. The gypsy had never seen the first two kings, so he took quick looks of them.

Jarvan opened the door. Behind was a huge room with white walls. There was a staircase on the left heading towards upper floors. There was a wooden fireplace with a grandfather clock above it. In front of the fireplace were four white sofas surrounding a glass table in the middle. On the sofa was a woman with blue hair and a blue dress, holding a floating instrument. Another woman with pinkish-black hair was leaning against the fireplace, staring at a sharp sword.

Their eyes all fell on the Card master.

"Twisted fate?"

The atmosphere was unusually tense, and strangely Twisted fate felt better with Jarvan's presence.

"Um…hi?"

"Don't act like it's nothing. All of our people hate and despise you for what you've done in Piltover." Fiora was near emotionless on her face.

"Enough, Fiora. We did not bring him here for condemnation. If we need to work together, mutual respect and trust are important. Now, let's settle ourselves on the sofa and discuss this matter peacefully, shan't we?"

They sat down each on a sofa. Fiora's eyes still showed unparalleled hostility towards Twisted fate. He frowned.

Fiora—she was known all over Valoran for being one of, if not the most, greatest duelists ever known. But she was not the type of people who you'd like to be friends with. She was ignorant, prideful and disrespectful. In the whole room, it was probably her who wouldn't hesitate to end his life.

Quinn—Twisted fate had heard stories of her, but never seen her in person. She was a mysterious scout of Demacia, carrying out secret scout missions with her loyal bird. People say that you usually don't see her coming until she suddenly appears in front of you.

The blue-haired woman—Twisted fate now recognized her to be Sona, for he had actually gone to one of her concerts in Piltover, and he very much enjoyed her music. He believed that she would eventually become the best musician of all in Valoran.

Jarvan spoke. "Now that we got Twisted fate, let's discuss our plan."

"Plan? What plan?"

"We want you to tell us everything about what you know about Vayne."

"Vayne? Wait, she has been abducted days ago!"

All the Demacians except Fiora gasped in surprise. She shook her head in disbelief.

"Impossible. Everyone knows that she will never end up in situations like that."

"But the truth is I saw her with my spell a few days ago. She was tied up in a warehouse. And my visions were never fake. I guess that she went missing recently, didn't she?"

Quinn nodded. "She wasn't present when the monsters struck."

"Monsters? What monsters? What happened?"

"You see, Twisted fate, a few days ago we were attacked by dark creatures known as mist walkers somewhere in this mansion. We successfully killed them, but not without some casualties. Since Vayne did not appear during that night, which she usually should, I suspected that she was missing, for real. And you seemed to be the only one who knew any of her whereabouts." Jarvan explained.

"You know, you wouldn't even be here if it wasn't for that attack in the dining room by those stupid monsters which made me suspect something happened to Vayne. Be glad that you're lucky again." Quinn crossed her arms.

The card master smirked.

"Any idea where the monsters are from?" He asked.

'Those monsters are called Mist Walkers, and I'm pretty sure they're from the Shadow Isles not far away from here. Which might mean that the place is involved with the attack."

"But they won't attack us for no reason. They're known to be neutral and only attacks if you enter their realm!"

"That's what we're investigating. Unfortunately, we can't do the job without Vayne, because she knows more than the rest of us. That's why we're looking for her. And you're brought here so that you could tell us where she is!'

"I know where Vayne last appeared." He stopped. Should he just lead them to the warehouse without receiving any credit? He felt cheated. Jarvan would be a good negotiator, but those women—if he asked for too much, they might cut the deal altogether and he would have no chance. On the other hand, if he voluntarily led them to the place, they might pity him and then reduce his sentence. And that's a big "if". But that seemed like the only possible and reliable way.

"If you allow me I can take you there and see it for yourself."

"Wait. Why do you look so keen to help? What's in that cunning brain of yours?"

"You just asked me to lead you to the place, and now you're denying it?"

All of them looked skeptical.

"Why should we trust you this time? You lied to Garen last time."

"This time I swear, I'm telling the truth. You have to believe me."

"What's going to happen if we find nothing there?"

"I'm just leading you to the location—I can't guarantee that there will be any clues left."

"Let us discuss this matter ourselves first, Twisted fate. You stand over there while we talk." He pointed to a spot near the door.

"Sure." The gypsy strolled over to the spot while Jarvan talked with the Demacians. After a while, Jarvan waved his hand and gestured him to go back.

"All of us agree that you will lead us to the location you claimed to have last seen Vayne, but if we fail to find anything you will be send back to prison immediately. Deal?"

Twisted fate did not like the whole deal, but this might be the best shot he had. He nodded.

"I agree."

"Wait. I'd like to ask him some questions."

 _Fiora? Her again? She looked so suspicious of me for the whole time!_

"So, first of all, tell us the real reason of why you were in Vayne's house."

He noticed that she spoke with a heavy accent, different from other Demacians. If one was completely unfamiliar with her, they would probably not believe that she was a Demacian.

 _Damn. Why am I even thinking about her accent?_

He wondered how to answer the question. He knew that a fake story would jeopardize their possible coordination attempt and his chance of freedom, especially when he was well believed to be _**unmatched**_ in terms of lying, yet he wasn't willing to reveal the truth between them, as it might cause harm to Vayne's reputation.

 _Why am I so considerate now? I have no idea._

Thus, he chose the most logical and what he believes to be the best solution. He told the truth with a few wrong parts in it. In other words, a half-truth.

"During my escape from Piltover, I happened to come across with the Night Hunter. I have succeeded in getting away from any situation in the past but I failed to do so when it comes to Vayne. She tied me up to a tree and threatened to take me to the Piltover government if I did not follow her orders. So I had no choice but to do her bidding. She ordered me to take her to the graveyard. And yeah, the woman who followed me that day—was her. After we have successfully evaded the guards, she took me to her house and asked me to stay there while she went out for a certain mission. And that's how Garen found me. Before I was captured, I had vision of Vayne from my cards, and it was exactly showing that she was tied up with ropes in an abandoned warehouse."

Both Jarvan and Sona gasped, surprised of what he had said. Quinn's face was impassive. But Fiora still looked unconvinced.

"Why do we have to trust you? Your reputation doesn't say a lot about that."

"Garen saw the image himself. If you ask him, he won't deny that!"

"But you could have been bluffing the whole time! And we have no reason to believe anything from _**you**_!"

"Laurent, he is our only lead to Vayne! She had vanished completely from this world, and I need to know why. Maybe if you have any idea of where she is, we won't have to create so much scandal!"

"You're stupid, Jarvan. You tell me you're going to trust him? Him, for god's sake! I don't have a clue of why you have to risk so much in saving someone who is doomed in prison and put all our reputations at stake! If anyone knows we're working with that liar, don't you ever think of sitting anywhere near the throne, prince."

"You tell me, are you totally unconcerned of your friend? THIS ISN'T A HOAX, FIORA! SHE'S REALLY MISSING, AND I'M VERY SURE THAT OUR ONLY HOPE IS THIS MAN! DO WE HAVE ANOTHER CHOICE? If you choose to turn a blind eye, then don't you EVER walk on Demacian ground again!"

Both of them stood up, staring at each other face-to-face, their nostrils flaring, breathing like an angered bull. Any second they might resort to the use of violence, and things were going to end up ugly. Twisted fate had no idea how to deal with the two.

"That's enough, both of you," Quinn ordered sternly, standing between them. "Fighting is not going to help find Vayne. You need to calm down and think over."

Jarvan's face was bright red, ready to punch someone hard, but he backed off tried to suppress his inner urge of hitting Fiora. Fiora looked like she longed for a fight, and seemed to be let down when it was clear that Jarvan had no intention of violence.

Twisted fate wondered whether they were always this divided.

Jarvan took his seat and was calming down. After a while he spoke,

"All of you will stay in my house tonight, including Fiora," Jarvan announced, though he did not seem to enjoy saying the last two words. "As we got a very busy day ahead, it will be more convenient for us to be together. There are a few guest bedrooms here, so pick your own and rest well tonight. Tomorrow at 7 am we will leave for our investigation. Be punctual. You're dismissed."

"By the way Twisted fate please stay behind. I have something to ask you."

Twisted fate froze. He originally decided to go to the bedrooms right away, since he was already tired. Reluctantly he stopped walking and faced Jarvan.

 _Good luck._

 _Wait, what was that?_

The gypsy could hear a voice in his mind which did not belong to him. He panicked for one second before comprehending that Sona had established a mental link between them—he knew that due to her being mute, the only way of communication was through her mind. Why does she still care for him, despite what he had done?

Nevertheless, he smiled back at Sona. She was extraordinarily beautiful. No wonder people call her "the perfect girl".

"Come here, Twisted fate."

He totally forgot Jarvan's presence.

"What's the matter?"

"I have to remind you of something. There is a storage room when you head up the stairs, which is the first room you will see. I have a set of disguises necessary for you tomorrow. And I also have your original outfit inside, so you can take it back when you feel it. I know it's pretty important to you. Luckily the guards back in the prison still keep the clothes."

Twisted fate was rather grateful of Jarvan, for he never expected to be able to see his hat again. He had been treating him well so far, so he thought he shouldn't let him down.

'Thanks. I'll take my leave."

"One more question," Jarvan turned and looked at the card master.

"Why do you seem to have an infinite number of cards?" Jarvan was curious of how the card master seemed to be able to throw out more cards than he actually had in his pocket.

"That's my personal secret. For my own safety, I can't tell anyone about that."

"Hey, I just saved you from your sentence. You owe me a lot, so you'd better tell me what you know."

"I can duplicate as many cards as I want so long that I have one." He replied. "With my magical powers, of course. Watch." He took out a poker card, one side facing Jarvan, and one side facing him. He concentrated and mana flowed to his hand. The poker face on the card emitted dim purple light, but still bright enough to see. After a few seconds, he moved his thumb, splitting the card into 12 individual cards.

"I can do all of that in one second actually if I had more mana."

"Fascinating. See you tomorrow then. And don't think of getting anywhere, because I still have my tracker." Jarvan smiled. With that, they separated and left the room.

Having not took a shower for days, he rushed to the bathroom immediately when he got into his room. The warm water was mesmerizing, comforting. He hadn't had such a warm bath for maybe years. He was getting really, really jealous of the shower he changed his clothes, and jumped straight into bed, utterly drained out.

Staring at the ceiling, he wondered where Vayne was right now. To him, it appeared the Demacians were doing this alone and keeping this a secret from the others. But it was logical because after all, no one would like to see him out of prison _**again**_ , right? They must be really desperate to ask him for help. He sighed.

 _It would be a long day tomorrow._

* * *

 **Author's note:**

 **Even an idiot can predict that outcome, right? (Don't worry, more surprises as you read on)**


	9. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer(again): Sona's words will be shown in** _ **italics**_ **here, as she speaks with her mind, not her mouth.**

* * *

The next morning, Jarvan, Sona, Quinn, and Fiora were having their breakfast at the dining table.

"This Twisted fate. Look, it's only a few minutes away from seven and he has yet to show up. Such an unpunctual person, and we still rely on him?"

"Fiora, can your spiteful tongue just stop when it's just this early in the morning?"

"It's just totally unacceptable that nobles like us are working with a well-known criminal!"

"Guys, calm down. Arguing won't be useful in any way."

Quinn and Sona had seen too much of the dispute between them, but could not do anything to stop them.

Upstairs, a half-awake Twisted fate opened his bedroom door, scratching his eyes. He wore the new clothes Jarvan gave him last night—a new cowboy outfit. Except he wasn't wearing a hat.

 _Why is it so noisy downstairs? It's not seven yet, that's for sure._

He descended using the stairs. The gypsy pushed open the wooden door leading to the dining room, and he could see the Demacians, particularly a certain prince and a pink-haired woman, yelling at each other.

"He's useless, Jarvan! He's just good at those playing cards and only knows to cheat for a living. He's just trying to lie his way out of this! You know—"

"Good morning, Twisted fate!"

Jarvan, noticing that the gypsy just entered the room, abruptly interrupted Fiora and greeted him. The others turned to face him.

"Oh. Morning to you all."

He walked over to the table and sat beside Sona.

"How did you sleep last night?" asked Jarvan

"Barely got any good sleep."

"Well then. You might as well sleep during our lengthy trip to the warehouse you mentioned last night. Do you know which warehouse?"

"I know the coordinates of that place, but don't know which one. If you give me a map I might be able to pinpoint it."

"Good. Finish your breakfast quickly and we shall leave soon. The outfit looks good on you, by the way."

The Demacians stood up and left the room. Before leaving, Fiora said to Twisted fate,

"Don't even think you can escape from us, or you won't be seeing the light of day again."

"Yes, Madam." He tried his best not to say anything stupid.

Twisted fate looked at the rather diverse number of dishes on the table, the smell rushing into his nostrils. It made him remember how long he hadn't eaten a good meal.

It was the best breakfast he had for years. He was again jealous of how Jarvan lived every day.

* * *

Out in the north-eastern parts of Demacia was a large deserted and desolated area. There were many old, torn-down buildings, abandoned by residents decades ago.

A warehouse stood among the old buildings. The roof was green with moss. The windows were long shattered, dark and grey, while ivy clung to the outer walls, specks of white paint on it.

A carriage was approaching the warehouse. As it stopped in front of the warehouse, five people could be seen getting off the carriage.

'This must be the warehouse we're looking for."

"There's only one warehouse in this area, Jarvan, so I'd be surprised if you got it wrong."

"Oh, shut up, Quinn."

 _We should probably look for the entrance._

"Right, Sona."

They walked all around the warehouse. After a while they found two combined wooden doors, weakly standing, with vines grown all over them. A powerful kick from Jarvan and the doors fell apart.

Inside was grey streaks of black across the walls as mold began to seep in. Speckles of white paint lined the floor with dust. The wooden furniture was rotting, stained with lichen while the curtains hang limp and moth-eaten. The roof was tall, over 30 meters tall. The place was dusty, yet still and quiet—not a voice was heard. The whole place looked rather empty. As they ventured into the warehouse, corpses of dead rats and small creatures could be seen on the ground.

"If Vayne had been here, she must have left some clues. Search the whole warehouse." Jarvan ordered. "And you guys watch Twisted fate. I'm going on my own."

"What? Why us?' Quinn obviously wasn't happy with the arrangement.

"Well, you guys have more people, so you're more capable of watching him. I'm going alone." Jarvan took the stairs, leaving them behind.

"Sometimes I just don't get what he's thinking." Quinn sighed.

The others went in different directions, looking for even the slightest of hidden clues. Meanwhile, Twisted fate treated the whole thing as a walk in the park.

"Hey, Twisted fate. You're going to help us or just stand there pretending this is a tour?"

"I am looking around. Isn't that called helping?"

"More like you're goofing around. You better start treating this seriously, or else…never mind. I can't trust you anyway." Quinn turned away, ignoring him.

In the end, Twisted fate still treated the whole thing as a tour.

"Guys! I found something over here."

It was Jarvan's voice. His words echoed around the warehouse.

"We're coming!" Quinn answered as loudly as she could.

The others went towards the direction of Jarvan's voice. After going up a few staircases, they saw Jarvan standing beside…a lever?

"What is this?" Quinn asked.

"I don't know. Should we try this thing? It looks really old, though."

"Why not? Shouldn't be anything too bad." Fiora answered.

Jarvan held the lever and attempted to push it down, but it didn't budge.

"Why…is this thing so tough?" Jarvan's face was like he was lifting a horse. Suddenly, the lever was pushed down.

"Whew! That's a lot of strength to move this lever. Now let's see what will happen.

A few seconds later, they kept standing there, looking around.

Nothing happened.

"Maybe we should wait for a while longer," Twisted fate suggested.

They seemed to agree. They kept on standing.

Nothing happened.

"Ok. Let's admit this lever won't work. How can we trust something will work when it's built decades ago—"

A sharp sound of metal screeching was heard. It continued for a few more seconds before stopping.

The others thought this was a miracle.

"I think it came from downstairs," Fiora said.

They went down the stairs and reached the ground floor. They saw a new hole formed on a wall on the other side of the warehouse, far away. When they arrived there, they discovered it was an entrance leading to a hidden passage, the walls made of stone bricks. It was dark with no light at all.

"This looks fishy. Why is there a secret entrance in an old and abandoned warehouse?" Quinn said.

"Only way to find out is to walk in," Jarvan said.

The others nodded and agreed. Cautiously they stepped into the hallway while Jarvan took out a torch and ignited it. The air in the passageway was moist, producing a certain smell, and the stairs and walls were wet, causing Twisted fate to nearly slip for a few times. The atmosphere was uncomfortable and uneasy.

"I wonder what's at the end of this hallway," Quinn said. "If I recall correctly there aren't any secret passageways in this warehouse last time the officials reported to me."

"To me, this place was built at least a few decades ago. It might be an escape route for the workers, though I don't see why they needed this kind of passageways." Jarvan answered.

The stairs led downwards, and they travelled deeper and deeper under the warehouse. Finally, they reached the end of the staircase.

A wooden door stood in front of them.

"Quiet. Let me take a look." Jarvan gestured the others to stay back, whilst walking to the door and examining it. There was a keyhole.

"What should we do?" Twisted fate asked.

 _We don't know what's exactly behind this door, so surely we cannot just dive in head first without any knowledge of the place. It's too risky._

"You're right, Sona, but what if Vayne is inside? She is in grave danger every second that passes, and we need to save her as early as we can. And she's last seen here, so there is a chance she wouldn't be anywhere else. If this is the chance we have, we're doing it." Jarvan replied. "We're going in. Now."

Jarvan opened the door with the doorknob without any difficulty. This time it was a rectangular hallway with the same stone walls, but there were torches on the walls illuminating the area. The path was straight, leading to a junction farther away which was further split into three separate routes. Although the place appeared to be built a long time ago, the floor looked unusually modern when compared to the abandoned warehouse. It was clearly someone's doing.

The passageway was a shocker to the Demacians because in their knowledge there weren't any secret tunnels in this deserted area of Demacia. It was unknown and unexplored by the government. Who knew how big this underground system was? Who knew what secrets might be hidden here?

"This tunnel is worth investigating. Let's go—"

"Wait, I think I hear something," Quinn said. "Keep quiet for a second."

In response, everyone froze. Instantly none of them made any movement and kept their ears open at the same time, expecting any noise that Quinn might have heard. It was dead silent, to the point that Twisted fate could hear his own heart beating.

There was a voice, rather distant, but still sufficiently loud to hear. It seemed to come from the wall on the right side. As they listened more intently, it sounded much more like human voices.

A conversation. In an abandoned secret passageway.

"There's someone around here. Should we visit them?" Quinn asked.

"Why not. We might learn more about what's going on here." The prince answered. "We should keep ourselves as quiet as possible, though. We don't know what intentions these people have."

They took the right path and crept along the hallway, not making any noise and slowly drawing nearer to the source of the voice. There were a few other turns, and once they took the wrong path and went farther away from the voice—it took them a few minutes to find the correct one.

Minutes later, they spotted another door when they turned round a corner to the left. There was a wooden sign beside it, with the words "Meeting room" on it. It was obviously the source of the voice. Still, they could hear somebody talking.

 _So here we are. What now?_

"Normally I'd knock the door, but it doesn't seem to be the ideal way to greet those people. I'm going to assume these people are hostile and force my way in." Jarvan said. "And I'm doing it this time, Fiora."

Fiora grumbled as the prince moved towards the door with the group following him close behind.

"Once I break down the door all of you ready your weapons and prepare for any retaliation." Jarvan reminded.

The others nodded. Except for Twisted fate, because he had nothing but his own fists.

"Ready? Let's roll."

Jarvan planted one leg on the ground and held the doorknob with his right hand. Then he slammed his other leg on the door frame using all his might. The whole door dropped to the ground.

The room had a round wooden table with ten chairs surrounding it. On the table was a pile of documents. There was a white board with a large Demacian map on it. Sitting on the chairs were twelve men wearing Demacian soldier uniform, and judging by their faces they were completely taken by surprise.

There was a group of people in the room, dressed in military uniform that belonged to senior officials.

* * *

Jarvan had not anticipated meeting any people in the supposedly empty underground system, and thus he was utterly taken aback by the events.

The two parties stared at each other for some time. Twisted fate scanned the faces of the men with his eyes. None of them seemed to be familiar to him, except one person.

The person he had seen a few days ago, in the graveyard.

The Royal Graveyard Guard.

He took out a gun from his front pants pocket and pointed at Jarvan. The gypsy wanted to stop him but realized he couldn't do anything to help. The guard pulled the trigger.

 _Uh-oh._

A second later Twisted fate thought he was dead, a gunshot wound on his head.

Turned out he was wrong.

Fiora was standing in front of Jarvan, holding her sword, as the bullet dropped to the ground harmlessly from her blade. Jarvan was saved by Fiora's swift action.

Twisted fate heard music from his back, and simultaneously saw several beams of yellow light heading towards the gunman, bending several times in the air before reaching the man. Then a hilarious thing happened.

He started to dance.

His arms and legs were swinging hard, dancing in a certain style.

Everyone was bewildered. One soldier standing beside the dancing man tried to grab the gun away from him, but Sona played another chord and the guard moved his arm, throwing the gun to the front of Jarvan's foot. The prince's face suggested he wasn't amused at all.

The other men each drew their own swords and prepared to fight.

"Traitors!" Jarvan yelled angrily. "I will kill you all!" He drew his lance and dove at the group of men, leading the charge, while the other Demacians followed him into the fight. There was an exception though.

Twisted fate did not move an inch since he hadn't even reacted to the whole situation. It seemed the Demacians were trained specifically for this kind of circumstances. He watched the whole fight scene from afar, unsure of what to do.

 _So Demacia is corrupted now. Interesting. When did the state undergo this dramatic change? I thought it was the City of Justice, after all._

He looked at Jarvan.

Jarvan was taking on six men at once. One walked forward and tried to stab him but the prince deflected his blow with his lance and smashed the end of the weapon into his skull, knocking him back. Immediately two others attacked him at the same time. Unable to deal with both sides, he threw his lance at one of them, killing the man instantly, then slipped to the side in order to avoid the other man's strike. He then grabbed the man's arm and twisted it, injuring him and causing him to drop his sword, but not before Jarvan picked it up in mid-air. Jarvan saw another guard and slapped his right palm down on the man's face, shattering his nose before delivering an uppercut to his chin. He saw a blade heading towards his face from his right and instantly used his own to block the blow. The attacker was one of the men. He knocked away the man's sword using his own and then threw the sword at his chest. The man did not move for several seconds before dropping to his knees, then to the ground.

There was one man left. He looked desperate, but he dived at the prince nevertheless. However, the prince just simply grabbed the man's head with his fingers and slammed it onto the table beside him with brutal force, forming a crack on the table.

 _What a brutal fight. No wonder he's called the Exemplar of Demacia._

He looked at the others and discovered all the rogue officials were down, either dead or being severely beaten up, unconscious. Valor flew back to its master, while Fiora inserted her sword back to her scabbard. It seemed that the others could hold their own.

The other men were dead, piles of blood on the floor.

However, the Royal Guard was still alive. Half-alive, to be exact.

The others all stood in front of the man.

"Um, nice to meet you guys! Maybe we can talk this through, shouldn't we? No violence needed! Heh, heh."

He was greeted with another punch in the face by Quinn.

"How dare you try to kill me! You…you are a senior official and you have pledged for your loyalty to Demacia! And now you are trying to kill your own kind!"

"You're enjoying this aren't you, Twisted fate." The wounded man gazed at the card master, smiling, revealing his broken teeth and bloodied mouth. The gypsy grinned back.

"So, since you're the only one conscious among your group, perhaps you should give us some answers on why you're gathering here and why you tried to kill us," Jarvan said. "And tell me where'd you get that gun from. The military does not use guns."

"And why is that? You people tried to kill me and you expect me to obey you?" He gave another maniacal laugh. "I'm not going to speak up no matter what you do."

"Really? I advise you spill the beans right now."

"Haha, try me. I'm already immune to pain after what you've done to me—I'm already beaten to near death. You can torture me as much as you like, but don't expect to get anything out of me, prince _ **.**_ "

Jarvan roared with anger, but as much as he wanted to beat the hell out of the man, he held back his fist, knowing well that senior Demacian officials were trained to keep their mouths shut under any circumstances.

"Wait. There's one thing I can tell you though. And I swear what I'm going to say is the truth."

Jarvan blinked.

"I'm listening."

"You noticed that someone was missing, right? The day when the monsters attacked your house, Jarvan. She wasn't there. Guess what? We have captured her the day after Twisted fate broke into the graveyard. The great Night Hunter herself! And she is now somewhere in Demacia, weak and helpless, being beaten up by my men, or even being ra—"

He was interrupted by a powerful knockout blow to his face, causing him to lose consciousness. Jarvan's face was furious.

"How dare he mention about her! He will pay for this!" He punched the wall with his fist, his face looking at the floor. "But he's right—we can't look for Vayne ourselves, and only he has a clue of where she is. The problem is that he's refusing to tell us."

The others first stared at the demoralized prince, then glanced at each other, uncertain of what to do with the situation. Fiora, in particular, was staring at Twisted fate the whole time.

"What? You expect me to be able to help? I never met anything like this before!"

Twisted fate sought back his memories. He had once heard of something which could force secrets out of a person, no matter how strong their willpower was. _Is it a spell? Yes, but it belongs to the dark arts and must be banned in Demacia. Oh wait. I remember._

 _It must be the_ _ **Truth Serum.**_

 _Right! Anyone who drinks the potion will be forced to speak truthfully for every question asked, the length of the effect depending on the number of ingredients. I wonder if they have this potion though. I've heard that the ingredients are remarkably rare in this world, and difficult to retrieve._

"If only we have the Truth Serum." The gypsy said under his breath. He wasn't particularly speaking to anyone with his low voice.

"Wait…the potion…Quinn, do we have the Truth Serum?"

Quinn stared at Jarvan with confusion. Twisted fate was wondering how he could pick up his words.

"You mean that potion?"

"Yes. That potion."

"We don't have the potion itself anywhere in Demacia."

Jarvan sighed.

"But I do think we have all the separate components for the potion."

Jarvan suddenly stood up straight, clear excitement on his face.

"Really? You're sure?"

"Most of them are in the storage room in the palace. A few months ago Ezreal found a key ingredient out in the Shurima Desert, and he gave it to me in secret. I have it at home, locked up securely. So far only we can create the potion—no one knows about this."

"Great! I'll have this douchebag tied up back in my house, and we'll know what he's up too! Take all the documents in this room—we're leaving now. And if there's a floor plan, check if there are any rooms we missed out."

As the Demacians were busy, Twisted fate caught a glimpse of the Royal Guard. He was there, lying against the wall, blood all around his face and military uniform. He smiled.

"Too bad this won't end well for you."

* * *

Back at Jarvan's house, Twisted fate, Jarvan, and Quinn sat in the living room on the comfortable sofas while Fiora and Sona worked on assembling the necessary ingredients and brewing the potion.

"Feels good to be back at my cosy mansion. The atmosphere, the perfect temperature, and you get what you want, isn't it?"

"I know you were born with a silver spoon in your mouth. Stop boasting about it." Quinn answered.

"Easy, easy! Don't be so sarcastic, my dear. Now, can you tell me what information you've found in the documents?"

Quinn grumbled, before leaning forward and pointing at a pile of documents on the table.

"These documents—some of them are mission reports filed to someone unknown, only named "The Controller". Some of these reports are classical information belonging to the government. Why don't you read the documents themselves?"

"Sure, why not." Jarvan took the pile of documents and started to read them. His face seemed to be more horrified and grim as he read on.

"That's a lot of censored information leaked to the outside world! This is more terrible than I thought! These people are disclosing our secrets to others, possibly to our enemies! Who knows what will happen if Noxus gets this information!"

"Maybe it's Noxus who's behind this," Quinn said. "Demacia is corrupted now, as we know. Might as well report this to the High General."

"Very corrupted, Quinn. Very." Jarvan added.

"And some documents are encrypted with secret codes. But I think I know how to decrypt them with my codex back at my house. It will take some time though, and I can't do it now."

Twisted fate was about to fall asleep when his eye caught something. A blue-haired woman was standing right behind Jarvan.

 _Prince Jarvan, the potion is ready. Please join us._

"Really? Great, we'll be there right now."

The prince stood up and gestured the other two to follow him. He patted Sona's shoulder. Twisted fate was quite fond of her melodic voice.

"You know, Jarvan has a thing for Sona," Quinn whispered in the gypsy's ear, "and he acts stupid when she's around. How amusing this is."

He chose to be silent and stepped into the ballroom.

The ballroom was exactly the same as before, except it was dark outside, and the torches were lightened. There was a man tied up against a wall on the left. Fiora stood beside him, holding a potion with crimson-coloured liquid in it. The man's eyes were fixed on Twisted fate, filled with anger and vengeance, but couldn't say anything due to his mouth being covered with a piece of white cloth.

"Brewed this potion with the help of a professional chemist," said Fiora.

"So, let's start. Pour the potion into his mouth." Jarvan ordered.

Quinn walked to the man's side, took away the cloth and forced his mouth open, while Fiora held the potion nearby. She opened the bottle cap and slowly poured the liquid into the man's mouth. The man tried to resist but to no avail. Soon, the bottle was empty. They waited for a while.

Suddenly the man's nose turned bright red.

"The instructions stated that if the potion is successfully put into effect, the nose would turn red in colour. Guess it worked." Quinn said.

"Good," said Jarvan. He turned to the man.

"Tell me, what were you and your men doing back there under the warehouse?"

The man's face was strangely hilarious. His face clearly showed his urge of forcing himself not to speak, but his mouth wasn't corresponding to his emotions. The face was separated into two parts.

"We were planning for an assassination tomorrow." He spoke calmly, something his face didn't suggest.

"Who's the target?"

"You."

The eyes of the other Demacians widened and looked at each other.

"Prince Jarvan the Fourth is the target?" Fiora questioned.

"Yes."

Jarvan's face looked skeptical.

"Tomorrow is the day of my speech. Is it the time when I will be killed?"

"Yes."

"And how will I be killed?"

"There will be a missile fired towards your location, and you will die in an explosion along with the audience."

"What is the purpose of this attack?"

"My superiors intend to fully wipe out the Lightshield bloodline and cause chaos in Demacia."

"You've been using the term "superiors" a lot. Tell me who these people."

"The High General of Demacia and some of the high-rank officials."

There were a few gasps among the Demacians.

"My superiors have communicated and cooperated with an outsider. The person had provided support and the necessary technology for us, which is illegal in Demacia."

"Does it include teleportation devices?" Twisted fate jumped into the conversation.

"Yes." His face looked angrier than ever.

 _Ah. This explains how the Royal Guard suddenly appeared in front of Vayne that night._

"And who's the outsider?"

"None of us know who the person is, except the High General."

"How many men in the military joined the rebellion?"

"Around 5% of the whole army."

"5%? That's a big deal!" Jarvan had no idea it was this large-scaled.

"Where is Vayne locked up?"

"Vayne has been transported away to a secure location. Again I have no idea where she went."

"S%*#. This matter looks serious. Quinn, call in Garen and Xin Zhao right now—we need as much help as we can, and these two are the ones I trust well. I will also gather my most loyal men, and we will discuss how we're going to deal with this situation."

"Will do." Quinn blew a whistle, and instantaneously Valor flew off into the dark sky, towards the military base. Twisted fate thought it was extraordinary for a person to be able to cooperate with a bird perfectly—probably why she was Demacia's top scout.

"And for us," Jarvan said in a stern tone, "what are we going to do tomorrow morning? Surely I can't just walk away from tomorrow's event, as they will notice that and that will put us in even grave danger. But we have no idea where the missile will come from or when it will arrive…sigh, why will all of this happen at this particular time, when my father is dead! Before that Demacia was as perfect as ever, now you're telling me there's a huge squad of rogue soldiers ready to kill me at sight!"

 _There is a missile launching system in the military base if I recall correctly. Maybe that's where they're going to launch it._

"Ah yes, Sona! Why haven't I thought of that before? We shall send someone there to check on that, and if possible we will stop the missile from being fired in the first place. But what if they have a backup plan? I'm sure they won't be stopped this easily."

"We might want to investigate this further, but it's unwise now to declare that. It's too risky. We can't let them know we found out something's up. But we must not let others know of this, at least for now," Quinn said.

"Wait," Jarvan said, "but we are risking the lives of the whole audience."

"But if they find out that we are aware of their plan, they might do something even worse! They might send all of their forces and attack you when you least expect it or assassinate you without anyone knowing, or even frame you with some accusations they make up—we're dealing with the man with the highest power of authority in Demacia!"

"They won't have any evidence that I have ever done something wrong—"

"Jarvan, you need to know that Demacia is no longer the City of Justice as you think. Think about the depth of corruption already, you think they can't do anything they want? Impossible!"

"But I'm not going to risk the lives of so many innocent people, Quinn! We cannot tolerate any casualties just because I might be assassinated—"

Both Jarvan and Quinn were in a heated argument, their faces red, while the others have no idea what to do. Suddenly, a familiar bird flew into the room from the window. It was Valor.

Valor landed on Quinn's shoulder and pecked her face repeatedly as if it was about to tell her something important and urgent, but surprisingly Quinn ignored the bird and kept yelling at Jarvan, despite the bird's various attempts.

"Quinn, you shut up and hear what your bird's about to say—"

Twisted fate could hear no more, as he saw a quick flash of light. Suddenly an ear-piercing and booming sound were heard, and a shockwave must have hit him because he felt himself being tossed by the force forwards violently.

* * *

 **Author's note:**

 **Can you sense some serious action coming soon? (gotta extend the length of the next chapter)**


	10. Chapter 9

"Ugh…"

Twisted fate was just recovering from the apparent shock. The ballroom was in chaos, piles of debris on the floor and a large, fiery fireball in place of the original wall. The heat was intolerable, and his ears were buzzing, close to becoming deaf.

He looked around. The others were lying on the ground in separate places, having also suffered a few injuries. Twisted fate watched as they gradually stood up.

"We're under attack," Jarvan said in a hoarse voice. "They have decided to eliminate me by tonight."

"Valor!"

Quinn's face was of horror as she looked at something behind Twisted fate. He turned and saw a blue bird on the floor, lying still on the floor. She got up and ran towards the fallen Valor.

"Valor, Valor! Tell me you're alright!"

The bird's eyelids opened slightly. It flapped its wings slightly as if it was proving that it was still very much alive."

"Oh thank goodness, I thought for a second that you're already dead!"

As Quinn was comforting her bird, the bird chirped and flapped its wings, trying to tell Quinn something. She kneeled down and listened. Meanwhile, the other Demacians slowly stood up, having recovered from the blast.

"Where's the Royal guard?" Fiora asked.

Before the unexpected explosion, the royal guard was tied against a wall which was directly in the explosion radius. There was no sign of the man.

"Forget about him. Valor reports that a large number of grouped soldiers are moving towards your house roughly 600 meters away."

"We're facing a very dangerous situation. They have surrounded us, and if I predict correctly they will bombard their way in and if we still stay here we're dead meat. We're lucky that the full force of the blast was partially mitigated by the wall, but we have to make our moves now. First, we leave this place right now, then Sona, you're going away from this place and anywhere near fights. You have to take care of the injured back in the Royal Hospital because I guess there isn't enough manpower there right now. Fiora and Quinn, you will accompany Sona back to the hospital, and then get to the military camp nearby and take necessary action. I'm going to find and take down the High General."

"Wait, why do I feel like we're missing someone here?" Fiora asked.

"Twisted fate! Where's Twisted fate?" Quinn asked.

They looked around and other than a few of Jarvan's servants running around in panic, there was no sight of the Card master.

"We can't let him escape! Imagine if the world knows he's out of prison!" Fiora said.

"No, we don't have time for that. What we're dealing with right now is a matter of national security, and I bet it's more important than the gypsy. So take the documents—they're key to exposing this rebel scheme, and we're leaving now."

As the Demacians ran to the door hurriedly, a certain gypsy watched their move on the second floor, behind a railing. He grinned.

 _These people are just really bad in keeping watch of me. But what do I do now? Might be a good idea to roam around the house first. Maybe there are some resources I can use._

Suddenly he heard something below. Looking down, he saw a rather large glowing green circle on the floor. Something materialized slowly above the circle, bit by bit, gradually forming two human-like figures. Both of them were women, completely identical, with hideous appearances and knotted black hair. Their serpentine eyes glaring around the house, studying the environment. Their skins were white, almost as white as snow.

"You, search the house thoroughly. The High General ordered to kill them all. I wonder what their faces will be when they realize we're not on their side!"

"Yeah! They'll plead for our help, and then when they least expect it—we kill them! It's really fun!"

Both of them dissolved into laughter. Twisted fate thought their voices were creepy.

"You go this way, I'll go upstairs."

One of them walked away whilst the other went for the stairs. Twisted fate immediately backed away and ran towards a wall corner as silent as possible, not wanting to capture her attention. He hid behind the wall, whilst watching the woman's every move.

The witch sauntered up the stairs in a noble fashion. Once on the second floor, she turned right and went into another room. If she turned left she would have seen Twisted fate, and he would meet his end. The gypsy gave another sigh of relief.

But the woman wouldn't cease looking for survivors like him—she would inevitably run out of places and search the corridor he was occupying. And then no matter how much luck he could have, it was more likely for him to end up dead if he did absolutely nothing.

So he had to do something.

He observed his surroundings. There was a wooden table not far away. And on the table was a brown flower pot with a cactus planted in it.

The perfect weapon.

Twisted fate held up the pot. It was quite heavy, like a rock. He then went back to the wall corner, and remained in place, waiting for the mage's arrival.

He waited and waited, crouching down and prepared to strike the moment the woman's head showed up, but it never came, and his arms and legs were starting to ache. Eventually, he couldn't take it and sat down, putting down the pot and crossing his legs.

 _Surely there won't be any risk of sitting here. She'll make noise if she's coming, and I'm going to hear it well and clear—_

Suddenly there was an explosion on the wall opposite to him.

He said nothing for his jaws were wide open, unable to speak, mortified of what had just happened. A crater the size of a head remained in place, with a trail of smoke.

 _How did she know I am here?_

"I know you're there, hiding! Get out of the corner or face the wrath of my power! MUHAHAHAHA!"

Twisted fate suddenly felt fear.

 _Gosh, maybe she might be crazy enough to actually_ throw _another of those energy balls at me, and I'm toast! Should I go out and reveal myself? Might be better than death._

He was wondering what to do when the woman continued,

"Never mind. I knew it all along that there's no one in this house. I have no idea why we have to search the place all over again when the bomb did the work for us. How boring this job is!"

 _Whew. Guess It's all in her imagination. She doesn't know I'm here after all._

He readied himself, as the clacking sound of the mage's high heels became louder and louder. She turned round the corner, her face clearly visible to him.

Twisted fate smashed the flower pot with all his might onto the mage's face with the spikes of the cactus. The woman instantly fell backwards, the cacti still on her face.

"Whew! That was unexpectedly easy. Can't believe these mages are so fragile and unprepared."

The gypsy leaned down and searched her pockets and clothes. He assumed that mages were supposed to bring along extra potions with them, and there might be something useful to him.

"Let's see—what do we have here?"

He fumbled and turned her pockets out, but strangely there wasn't even a single potion.

"Impossible!"

Feeling frustrated, he kicked the woman's body. Something dropped out of her clothes, emitting a familiar sound. Twisted fate went back and checked what the object is.

It was a bottle with blue liquid. A mana potion.

Immediately he had a change of heart.

"YYESSSSS! I'm free!" He shouted, loud enough for the whole floor to hear. He drank all the liquid in one gulp. A few seconds later he felt fully refreshed as if he was alive once again. He could feel his magical powers slowly returning to him. The gypsy raised his right palm right in front of him, and he ushered his mana towards his hand, causing his hand to glow blue. During this time, a deck of cards gradually formed in his palm.

The Card Master had returned.

 _Now that I regained my powers, let's think of somewhere to go first…_

He walked out of the wall corner and saw the other mage standing on the same floor, right at the end of the staircase. Their eyes met.

"YOU! HOW DARE YOU KILL HER! YOU WILL DIE!'

She instantly threw a round blue projectile towards him. Twisted fate stepped back and narrowly dodged the blow, but the shockwave knocked him backwards. He got up immediately and drew out a green card.

 _Time to test out my new trick._

He went deeper into the corridor and distanced himself. Once the mage appeared the gypsy threw the card onto the ground in front of her. The mage summoned an invisible wall in front of her, attempting to block the card, but failed, because the card hit the ground in front of her instead. Suddenly, green smoke emitted from the card, and within seconds the woman was surrounded by a huge cloud of smoke.

It turned out that the card was like a smoke bomb—people just don't usually expect cards to be able to do these kinds of stuff, so it was a rather excellent trick in the moment. The mage was confused and terrified, constantly moving her magical barrier in all sorts of directions, but never able to protect herself fully. Twisted fate, meanwhile, had a clear line of sight on the woman due to his spell destiny, and he knew he had the upper hand.

He advanced slowly towards the smoke cloud. Strangely, the mage was struggling hard to escape from the smoke but failing miserably and misleading herself in the smoke. He drew out another few cards as he planned where to attack. The card master saw an opening at the woman's back, completely undefended and vulnerable. He threw his cards at her.

She dropped to the floor right after the cards went through her chest. Twisted fate grinned, satisfied with the result and his newly-tested trick.

 _Now, where do I go?_

At this moment, he could just teleport himself out into the open, never to be seen again. A disguise would be easy to find, and he would be able to live like a normal citizen, do whatever he wanted to, whilst hidden from his pursuers and assassins. It was something he had longed for since he was captured.

But was this the life he was looking forward to? To return to the path he had been on for years, robbing others for his own gain? Besides, how sure was he that he would be able to escape unscathed? Even Demacia would target him as a fugitive, along with Piltover, after this scandal. He had never made so many enemies before and had no intention to do so. He disliked this kind of life.

Twisted fate drew his Card of Destiny and activated it. He closed his eyes and focused solely on his mind, searching for Jarvan. Suddenly an image surfaced.

The prince was out in the street, wielding his lance and facing a crowd of Demacian soldiers. He was severely outnumbered. The soldiers appeared to be hostile, and ready to take away the Prince's life.

What if he went and helped Jarvan? He might be able to even strike a bargain with him for something that might benefit him greatly, for example…

 _Never mind, I'll think of that later._

Besides, Vayne had saved his life once back in the house in Ionia. Shouldn't he repay the favor? Twisted fate had never thought of this kind of problems before, but he wanted to reform himself. To change himself.

 _I'd better not regret this,_ he thought as he threw his cards in a circle surrounding him.

* * *

Demacia was in chaos.

Civilians were running in the streets as multiple explosions occurred in various buildings consecutively, screaming in horror of such a surprise attack.

A large number of Demacian soldiers were stationed around the Lightshield house, surrounding it and blocking possible routes out of the house. All of them were armed, swords and bows ready. They were advancing towards the mansion, cautiously, ensuring that the prince wouldn't sneak away from their very eyes. Alongside the soldiers were a few tanks and a missile launcher, responsible for the explosion in Jarvan's house.

They were not Jarvan's saviors. In contrast, they were determined to eliminate Prince Jarvan IV tonight.

"All of you are to separate in groups and search for the prince. Don't let him get out of this alive." The leading general announced.

Meanwhile, the front door of the mansion was opened. From it came out four Demacians, sweating heavily.

"They cut off the signal of my wired telephone back in my room, so we're on our own for now until the Army comes. Remember, each of us has our own mission. Good luck. For Demacia."

 _Jarvan?_

"Yes, Sona?'

 _I…I didn't expect this all along. To have so many people out there, wanting to kill us all. I can't believe things would end up like this._

"Neither do I. But we'll survive this, Sona. Do not fear."

"Jarvan, are you sure you don't need any help from us? At all?" Quinn asked.

"I'm more than capable of fighting alone, Quinn. You know this more than anyone. Plus the fact that Sona is needed in the Royal hospital at this very moment, and you two need to protect her well. I need to get to the military camp now to discuss tactics with Garen and Xin Zhao. We will confront the High General back in the palace if he's still there. You can come and help us after you've taken care of the civilians. We need the ensure the safety of our people before we find the culprit for all this mess. Now go, the lives of our people are at stake."

The other three waved goodbye and ran towards the Demacian Hospital. Jarvan was alone. He could feel the atmosphere uncomfortably silent and eerie as if an assassin would suddenly pounce out from nowhere. He had a sudden urge to continue staying in the house, fearful of what would happen if he ventured out. But wasn't he the Prince of Demacia? If wasn't even brave enough to overcome the fear of death, what would he be? Even an ordinary Demacian soldier was willing to sacrifice his own life. In addition, staying at his house would very likely be the most idiotic option, for the mansion surely would be searched by the enemy.

 _No. I will fight to the end. I won't be a coward._

Jarvan reassured himself that everything would be all right, though he himself did not think so. He walked over to the stables and went inside. He saw lots of horses, all of them strong and muscular, but only one was his favourite.

"Ah, my dear Adagio. How's your day? We're going on a trip now!"

The prince climbed onto the horse and removed the ropes that tied him up. The horse was covered in full metal armor, like a war horse. In fact, he was one of the best war horses in Demacia.

"Let's go!" He pulled the lead rope and the horse screeched, before trotting out of the stable. Another -explosion could be heard elsewhere as he walked into a street, which was rather wide and had two-to-three-storied buildings at the side. Not a person was to be seen.

"The High General—he will pay for all of this. If I survive, that is."

The horse galloped quickly for a while before eventually slowing down, moving one step at a time. Jarvan thought it would be wiser to make less noise. He held up his shield and his lance, cautiously glancing around, ready to fight at any second.

Then he picked up some noise. Someone was shouting in the street next to his.

The prince's body tensed up, and looked around more frequently than he had, especially for the windows and alleyways. He had a feeling that something bad was about to happen.

Jarvan guided his horse into an alleyway nearby. He got off the horse and gestured him to hide behind a rubbish cart and kneel down as much as he could, himself doing the same, and waited.

The sound of footsteps could be heard, but he had no idea who it belonged to. Was it his ally? His enemy? Or something else? He had to wait until they showed their faces.

In the distance, a group of Demacian soldiers could be seen passing the entrance of the alley, continuing going forward through the street. All of them wore heavy armor and helmets. Jarvan originally planned to stalk the person, but he kept silent, not wanting to start a fight with so many of them. Likewise, he wasn't even sure if they were his enemies.

"The army is coming for us. If we fail to find Jarvan, our plan will be foiled completely!"

"Don't worry. We'll reach his home and find him easily. It's impossible for him to escape from us. We got him surrounded."

 _Ok. Now I'm sure they're my enemies._

Jarvan was silent. Yet his horse didn't have the same idea.

The horse pushed the rubbish cart with his hooves.

The soldiers stopped. The prince was sure they had heard the noise.

 _What have you done? You're putting our lives at stake!_

"Who's there? Show yourself or you'll meet your end!"

It was too late. Jarvan could no longer hide. He climbed on the horse.

"Prince Jarvan? I can't believe you're here! The enemy is approaching soon, and you need our help! Follow us!"

"That's a lie, General. I've heard all you said earlier."

The General paused for a second.

"Fine. Too bad we won't spare you either."

"Really? More like I won't spare you from this! You've committed treason, the worse crime one can commit in Demacia!"

"Who cares. Your country will fall, prince. Face our wrath!"

The soldiers ran towards Jarvan just as Jarvan led the horse into the upcoming battle.

"For Demacia!"

The war horse dived into the swarm of men, knocking them over, while Jarvan lowered his lance to his right and pierced through the chests of the soldiers, ignoring their armor. His shield blocked many strikes from the left side, enabling him to stay on the horse. When Jarvan emerged from the crowd, he had already taken down seven to eight men, lied on the floor. His lance was full of blood. Meanwhile, his horse took a few sword strikes but wasn't injured, for its armor protected the horse well. If it weren't for that, plus the years of training it had received, the horse would have died long ago.

Just as he thought he would easily defeat these men, he saw something on the ground below the horse. Something olive in colour…he inspected it.

It was a grenade.

"Get out!" He yelled as he ushered the horse to leave the spot as fast as he could. But the grenade was faster and it detonated. Jarvan felt himself flying briefly into the air along with the horse, before hearing a loud "thump" as his back hit something hard.

The prince laid on the ground. Thanks to his armor, he was unaffected by the blast. He got up swiftly and picked up his lance. He saw his horse, who also didn't look hurt but seemed unable to get up himself. At this moment, the Demacians—the traitors—advanced towards Jarvan.

Jarvan didn't have enough time to help his horse, so he went after the soldiers instead. He could see himself in a one-versus-seven scenario.

 _Shouldn't be a problem, isn't it?_

As the guards reached him, they grouped together and raised their shields in unison. Together they formed a shield wall, seemingly impenetrable. They moved forward step by step.

Jarvan knew this—he had once seen the army practice this move, and they're using it against him. The soldiers blocked the way out, so he had to go in the opposite direction, away from them. He looked back.

But the prince was down on his luck, for there was another group of soldiers on the opposite side. They, too, stood together and formed a shield wall. Both pathways were blocked. The buildings on the two sides of the street had their doors closed, and would take time if he wanted to break into it, which was something he severely lacked for the time being. He couldn't magically fly into the air, and couldn't dig underground like a mole did. There was no way for him to escape. At first, he was confident that he could defeat seven men, but with the extra soldiers behind, he knew he would die to them no matter what.

Jarvan was trapped in the open. Had he knew this inevitable outcome, he would surely go back to his house and wait for help. Now…there was no going back.

"You're good as dead, Jarvan. Where do you think you can go? You can't get through the shield wall, and don't think you can run through us."

That moment, Jarvan really thought this was over. He noticed the soldiers did not have armor at their backs, but how on earth would he be able to hurt their backs without being taken down first?

 _I'm sorry, Father. I have failed you once again._

He failed to see a white circle forming behind the unsuspecting soldiers. The light became brighter and brighter as a man appeared from the circle. He looked rather…familiar. The figure was holding a stack of cards between his fingers. He threw the cards towards the backs of the soldiers, each of them in separate directions. No one saw that coming.

Which was why Jarvan was astonished when the once-intimidating soldiers fell forwards and buried their faces on the ground.

"What…what is this?"

He looked up and saw his savior. Which only made him even more astonished.

"Looking for me, Prince?"

"Twisted fate? But how did you get your mana?"

"Had a visitor in your house who kindly handed her mana potion to me," he coolly answered. "Involuntarily, of course. But anyway, what did I miss?"

"Those traitors are after me. Can you teleport us out of here now?"

"Nah, I just used the spell and it will take a while until I can use it again. My spells have cooldowns, after all."

"Ok. Protect me until we find our way out."

"Not a problem. Shall we go forward?"

"Sure. Let's get out of this place. But first, let's deal with the soldiers, ok?"

The soldiers at the back, at first confused, were now charging towards the two.

"I'm perfectly fine with that," he answered. "I've been longing for a real fight."

As he spoke he drew out a stack of cards. First, he threw a green card onto the floor, engulfing the area with green smoke in seconds, scattering the soldiers. He then threw blue cards at the soldiers, not linearly, but in a curved route such as to avoid the shields of the soldiers, and towards their unprotected back. Most of the soldiers only held the shields at the direction against Twisted fate, and thus these unfortunate men died in a single blow. There are some more experienced ones, however, who had dashed out of the smoke as soon as it struck and blocked the cards successfully. They charged at Twisted fate, together.

That's not the end of his spells, though.

Twisted fate threw red cards at the soldiers, one at a time. The soldiers' shields proved ineffective as the red card's shockwave knocked them into the air or backwards.

"I didn't expect your cards to be that powerful," Jarvan shouted, watching the whole scene in awe while fighting two soldiers at a time.

"You must have underestimated my true strength," he replied, "or it might be related to the mana potion—I feel like its enhanced—"

"Twisted fate! Behind you!"

The card master immediately drew out a yellow card and threw it backwards. The familiar sound caused by the impact of the card could be heard as he saw the attacker—a soldier who had strangely survived all his attacks. He was wielding a sword, raising it in mid-air and appeared to be attempting to slice Twisted fate's head into half—if it weren't for his intervention. The card hit directly on the man's chest, so he stood there, not moving for two or three seconds, before collapsing.

By then Jarvan was also finished with his own company—no one was left standing. In the end, all of the soldiers lied on the floor, unconscious or dead. The prince had helped his horse get up, and was now sitting on the horse.

"Well, pretty good skills there, Twisted fate."

"I appreciate the compliment."

A "swoosh" sound could be heard from the sky as he spoke. Before he had a chance to react, an explosion occurred in a building not far away. The whole building toppled over and crashed to the ground.

Twisted fate watched the whole scene in shock.

"What was that?"

Twisted fate had never seen something like this before, but as a former veteran commander of the military, Jarvan fully knew what it is.

It was a missile fired from a rocket launcher.

It was the first successful launcher the military had made, and though it was old when compared to the latest version, it still had the power to demolish anything within its rather large blast radius. If anyone managed to stand near its blast zone, he's good as dead.

"We got company, Twisted fate. I guess they've known our position and are bombing us! We have to dodge the missiles! Get on the horse, now!"

After Twisted fate climbed on the horse hastily, Jarvan pulled the reins and the horse galloped quickly.

"We have to get off this street as soon as possible! Keep on guard, Twisted fate. We're only one mile away from the military camp!"

Just then they turned left and entered another street. Twisted fate saw a huge group of soldiers in the distance, blocking the way out of the street. They seemed to just stand there, anticipating both of them.

"Jarvan, you see that, right?" Twisted fate asked the prince.

"I know. But it's dangerous if we turn back. I'm sure they have sent reinforcements for us, now that all of them know where we are. If we bypass these men, we can easily get to the camp, and we'll be safe."

"Fine."

As they neared the group of soldiers, Jarvan ordered the horse to slow down. They stopped a mere few meters away from the bloodthirsty men.

"Prince Jarvan! Are you here to surrender to us? Glad you finally thought this over. And who's this funny-looking guy behind you?"

"Actually," Jarvan said, smiling, "you'd better surrender to us."

"Oh, really? Look at you, Jarvan! You think you yourself can fight over a hundred men here? You might be the royal prince in this country, but this doesn't make you acquire the power of hundreds."

"I don't, but the person beside me does."

By then, Twisted fate had already gotten off the horse, and stood next to Jarvan. Deep down, he was overjoyed that none of the soldiers recognized his true identity—which made his job easier.

In a millisecond (literally), he reached for the stack of red cards in his pocket, took them out, and threw all of it at once towards the unsuspecting soldiers. The cards were spread out and travelled so quickly that the soldiers did not even know what hit them. The cards flew over their heads and struck in the huge group of soldiers, and a second later the cards created magically-infused explosions upon impact. The pure magic itself killed some soldiers directly, whereas the shockwaves scattered the originally-grouped men. There wasn't even enough time for the soldiers to react.

In just a moment, the group had lost a quarter of its men, and some were injured from the blast. The soldiers stared at Twisted fate for a few seconds, unable to believe their eyes. Then they charged towards the Card master.

In response, Twisted fate drew out more cards and threw them one by one at the men, in quick succession, while starting to run away. This time the men protected themselves using their shields, but it was of no use. The cards were able to adjust its course, and they aimed towards the exposed parts of the soldiers, plus the fact that it was really speedy. Each of the soldiers fell, one by one, as Twisted fate continued his onslaught. Any soldier who was nearing Twisted fate was targeted and killed almost immediately. Yet they continued to chase the gypsy.

Strangely, the soldiers seemed to forget Jarvan's presence. They only had the notorious Card master in their eyes. They just ran towards him, completely ignoring Jarvan even when they ran past him. Jarvan was bewildered and had no idea what to do.

 _Twisted fate sure knows how to steal the spotlight._

All of a sudden from the corner of his eye he could see a sword heading for his head. In instinct, he lashed out and slammed his lance towards the incoming sword. He was just in time to block the lethal head-strike from a soldier.

"Can't believe you want to pick a fight with me. Then I'll play along."

At the same time, Twisted fate was still running away from the soldiers, though the number of soldiers had already decreased drastically, all the others killed by the Card master singlehandedly. Things were bright for the card master so far. However, Twisted fate was starting to slow down as he wasn't as well-trained physically as the Demacians. The soldiers, on the other hand, was an arm's length away from him.

Twisted fate counted the number of men left. Less than 20. He decided to stop running and start fighting head on. He turned around and unleashed three cards onto the closest man's face. The man was slow and the cards sliced through his head before he could even react. The cards then kept on their momentum, killing two other soldiers behind the unfortunate man in the same way. Twisted fate stood still and glanced around.

14 soldiers left.

The soldiers came to a halt, realized the same thing, and looked at each other. Their boldness started to fade from their faces. They couldn't believe that so few of them were left. The soldiers concluded that there was no hope in continuing to chase the Card master.

They ran in the opposite direction instead. The tides were turned.

And for this, Twisted fate cracked a smile.

 _Can't believe Demacia trained soldiers like these._

Unfortunately, the gypsy wasn't keen on letting them get away that easily. He drew out another deck of cards and sent them towards the legs of the fleeing soldiers. In the end, the fates of those men were equivalent to those lying on the floor, thanks to the Card Master.

Twisted fate looked farther away and saw Jarvan dueling with a soldier, neither gaining any significant advantage. He then drew a card and threw it towards the soldier far away. The card flew a large distance before finally slicing through the surviving soldier's neck.

Jarvan then noticed the number of bodies on the street.

"Wait…what? You did this…to them?"

"Well, your troops sure are rather weak, to be honest."

"Maybe it's because they never fought an enemy like you, Twisted fate. We were trained to fight armies, not mages. The armor we wore weren't too resistant to magic. I should reflect this to the Commanders though—we must be able to retaliate against magical threats."

Twisted fate himself guessed it was the extra effects of the mana potion once again.

"Anyway, after that fight I think I have regained enough mana to channel the teleport spell."

"Ah, very nice. Try to search whether anyone is nearby."

The gypsy drew out his Destiny card. After a while he replied,

"I see Garen. He's commanding a number of troops, not far away from here."

"Wait, how do you know Garen? Oh, never mind. Let's get there right now."

"How about me? Will they tolerate my presence?"

"Don't worry, let me deal with that."

* * *

"We'd better get to the palace right now if what you've said is all true, your Majesty."

Twisted fate was together with Jarvan, Garen (someone he really despised) and a man wearing heavy armor, also wielding a long spear—presumably the "Xin Zhao" Jarvan was talking about. All of them were riding horses, galloping across streets as they headed for the most probable place the High General would be in. Twisted fate sat right behind Jarvan, on the same horse.

"Forget the formalities, Xin. Just call me Jarvan. On top of that, I'm not even officially the King of Demacia."

Originally, none of them expected Twisted fate to follow.

" _Jarvan, are you sure we'll bring along Twisted fate? He doesn't look very suitable for our mission." Garen told the prince, back in the headquarters._

" _I'm not even sure if he wanted to. But now we need as much help as we can get in a dire situation like this."_

" _As I said before, he's not a person to trust."_

" _But he juts saved my life not long ago. I believe I owe him something. Give me a moment."_

" _I can hear that." Jarvan turned around and saw Twisted fate standing right beside him. He might even have stood there for long, overhearing the whole conversation, and both himself and Garen hadn't noticed it one bit._

" _Oh. Ok. Twisted fate, what we are going to do later on is that—"_

" _You're going to get to the palace and find the High General," he interrupted, "and kill him or something."_

" _Guess we spoiled too much," Garen commented coldly, crossing his arms._

 _Meanwhile, Jarvan was wondering what to do. Recruiting Twisted fate into the mission might be a big help for them, as his unique teleportation and magical abilities were something the Demacian military never had. On the other hand, convincing him to join seemed difficult, unless…_

 _He came up with an idea. It might as well work._

" _You want a reward if you agreed to help us, right?"_

 _Twisted fate flinched slightly. He thought Jarvan easily saw through him and knew what he was thinking._

" _Well then, if you successfully helped me defeat the High General, I'll do as much as I can to award you since I will be King in the next few days. You have my word."_

 _That was what the gypsy wanted to hear most. He agreed in his mind with what Jarvan had said and suddenly felt more enthusiastic about the whole event._

" _Deal."_

 _Jarvan turned around and extended his hand to him. It took a moment for him to realize that he was intending to shake hands with him._

" _Oh, sorry. Guess I had to learn more about being a civilized person."_

" _And I can't thank you enough for saving me back there. I really would have died without your help."_

" _Well, it's all about the "mutual trust" you said before, right?"_

 _Jarvan laughed. He had never seen this side of Twisted fate._

"I see one of my men in front of us. He's waving at us!"

A Demacian soldier, also riding a horse, was in the distance, heading towards them. He was doing a gesture, which was like—

"Halt! He's motioning us to stop! Let's see what he has to say!" Xin Zhao pulled the reins of his horse and slowed down to a stop. Jarvan and Garen did the same. The soldier also stopped his horse and got off. He ran towards Xin Zhao.

"General Xin! The palace…it's taken over by the rebels. I think everyone inside the palace is killed by the High General…they've taken over the whole palace! We had the castle surrounded, but they had disabled the drawbridge and we couldn't get in!"

Garen and Xin Zhao opened their mouths in shock; Jarvan's face suggested he was unable to take in the message. He placed his hand on his chest. Again, Twisted fate had no idea what to say. There was a moment of silence.

"Guys, I thought we need to get to the palace as soon as possible," Twisted fate reminded.

"You're right. We can't waste any more time. Let's go."

Jarvan gestured Garen and Xin Zhao to leave.

"And thank you, soldier, for this important information."

Twisted fate noticed the fearful expression on the soldier's face, his mouth stretched and eyebrows pulled up.

"Yes…yes sir."

The gypsy thought that Jarvan was shaken up by the sudden news, hence the atmosphere changed around him. The prince completely stopped talking and only gazed forward for the whole trip. The others, including himself, noticed that and said no more.

Soon, the Demacian castle could be seen in the distance. He could see fire and smoke on the upper floors of the huge building. After a while, they reached in front of the moat, where the portcullis at the round-shape entrance could be seen. Demacian soldiers stood there, waiting for them.

"Jarvan, thank god you're here! They withdrew their bridge, and now we can't get across!"

"Don't worry. I'll find my own way," Jarvan answered. "But are you sure the High General is in there? He didn't sneak away, right?"

"We're positive he's still inside the palace."

"Good." He looked at the drawbridge. Except that the bridge was stationed on the other side and that was the one and only way to get into the palace. Otherwise, they would have to swim across the moat, which was never designed for allowing anyone inside to escape.

"The scoundrel," Jarvan was clenching his fists. "How dare he do this to me…"

"You can teleport all of us in?" Xin Zhao asked.

"I can't teleport all of you at once. I can only bring one along with me," Twisted fate replied.

"You can pull down the bridge for us after you get in," Garen suggested. "That way we can all go in. But who's going with him?"

"I'll go with him," Jarvan said.

Twisted fate began to channel Gate. White light surrounded him as he laid the cards on the floor. Jarvan stood in the circle, already knowing what to do. In a second they disappeared into thin air and left nothing behind.

"Sometimes I just really envy his powers," Xin Zhao said. "Imagine if I possessed the power to teleport freely. Things will have been so much easier for me."

In the meantime, Twisted fate and Jarvan reappeared right behind the portcullis of the gate, inside the castle.

"Can't believe no one is guarding this place," Twisted fate said. "They must haven't expected someone like me to knock on their door."

Jarvan pulled a switch on the wall. The drawbridge was lowered slowly and slowly until it met the surface where Garen and Xin were standing. As they ran across the bridge, Jarvan rose the portcullis to let them enter.

"That was easier than I expected," Garen said. "I thought there would be dozens of guards."

"But it's pretty obvious someone's been here already."

Jarvan pointed at something on the floor. Twisted fate looked at that direction and saw a few bodies in place. Their features were unrecognizable.

"We need to get to the upper floors. The High General might be in the throne room." Xin Zhao suggested. "We'll take the stairs."

The group went for the staircase, which wasn't far away. It was a well-built spiral staircase with white walls.

 _Will it be that easy? There's no one guarding this place, and nothing looks wrong—"_

Twisted fate suddenly heard a creaking noise. Immediately afterwards, the stairs in front of him collapsed. Garen was directly standing on it, so he dropped straight towards the ground below, the debris falling onto him. The others instantly froze, not wanting to step forward.

"Garen? Garen!"

Xin Zhao and Jarvan ran down the stairs and rushed to Garen. They picked up the pieces of debris one by one, and gradually removed the layer bit by bit.

"I'm fine, guys," Garen mumbled, still lying under the debris. "My armor saved me. I do think I can get out myself though. Ugh…"

"You're unscathed, excluding those small cuts on your face. We shouldn't go with the staircase—there might be more booby traps along the way. I know a secret path leading to the throne room, on the other side of the palace. Follow me."

Twisted fate followed Jarvan as they went through many different rooms, which all looked fascinating to the gypsy. The palace was close to a paradise for Twisted fate—without the constant number of bodies seen on the floor in every room.

Just then, they reached the end of the corridor. They seemed to had entered a painting room as a splendid number of paintings were hung all around the room.

"What's so special here, Jarvan? I've been here before, and I think it's nothing more than a room of display—"

Jarvan shushed Garen with his finger. He walked closer towards a certain painting at the very end of the corridor, which showed a two-dimensional appearance of the palace.

What he did next was out of Twisted fate's imagination.

Jarvan put both of his hands on the painting frame. He then exerted force on it, turning the whole painting in a clockwise direction. During this time, Twisted fate could hear something at his back, the sound similar to metal wheels rotating. He looked back and saw a part of the wall move inwards, then upwards, slowly revealing a dark passageway in its place. When Jarvan had turned the whole painting once, the secret entrance opened fully, around two meters tall. Twisted fate then realized that although the room was full of paintings, there wasn't a single of them around the entrance of the passageway.

Garen and Xin Zhao just stood there, motionlessly watching the whole scene, their jaws were dropped the whole time. Twisted fate guessed they were new to this fact as well.

"Guys, this is a generation-old family secret. The time when this castle was built, my great-grandfather had requested to build a secret passageway that connects the throne room to the outside world, in case we are under attack. So far only my family knows this, and I presume no one had actually used this. But now since it's the only way to get up there, I have no choice but to unveil this age-old passageway. Don't tell anyone about this, gentlemen. Especially you, Twisted fate."

The others nodded, including Twisted fate. Then they went into the tunnel, which was once again a spiral staircase. It also led downwards other than upwards.

"This leads to an exit far away from here. That's where this passageway leads originally." Jarvan explained. "But we're heading up now. The length of the staircase is pretty long though, mind you. We have to go up right now. Time doesn't wait."

Jarvan lighted his torch and ran up, as the others followed. The Demacians ran in a steady but rather agile speed. Meanwhile, he was already panting for breath after only a minute, unable to keep up.

"We'll meet you upstairs, Twisted fate. Just follow the stairs." Jarvan shouted, leaving Twisted fate behind as the Demacians disappeared from his sight.

 _Really wished I had enough mana to channel Destiny._

* * *

A man stood on the balcony, observing the Demacian city as moonlight shone onto him.

The throne room was located on the highest floor of the whole palace, connected to the balcony. One could gaze at the view of the entire city on the balcony. The man was in full gold armor, still wearing the King's Crown—though he was only temporarily replacing Jarvan the fourth. He was old, with wrinkles on his face.

The city was in chaos—fire and smoke could be seen among the buildings as the missile launchers continued their rampage. He couldn't see his troops, but he knew they were following his orders. His master plan was to succeed tonight.

Just then, he heard the sound of metal wheels. He arched his eyebrows, then looked at the city for one last time before walking into the throne room.

On the wall in front of him, a rectangular hole slowly opened up right beside a painting of the palace, as the wall raised. He couldn't believe his eyes. Out of the hole stepped out three men, whom he knew well, fully armed.

"High General William! You're under arrest!" Jarvan announced loudly.

"Jarvan? Garen? Xin Zhao? What…what's behind you?"

"None of your business, traitor. It's a secret of this palace you will never get to know."

"Grrrr…I should have known that! I've ordered my men to keep watch of every single floor in this palace…but not this tunnel. You do have some brains, prince, and I misjudged you. However, I'll still take on all three of you easily." As he spoke, he drew out a huge golden sword.

"You caused the chaos in the city, right? Why did you do that? We are all Demacian, and we're supposed to be united and strong! Bring peace not only to our nation but to the whole of Valoran! What you have done does exactly the opposite! And you've disclosed our governmental secrets to an outsider—"

"Wait, how do you know so much? Must be one of my men who told you these. But anyway, what you've said are all correct. And guess who I disclosed all the information to?"

"Noxus, isn't it." Garen clenched his teeth. "You were born Demacian! Why do you turn your back on us and work for that deceitful nation?"

"Really? You people still don't know?" The High General sneered. "I guess if I never tell you, you'll never know about this! You see, my documents claim I was born in Demacia—but my parents were Noxian spies."

The Demacians did not expect him to say that.

"Actually, my family line had all been Noxian spies since the day Demacia was established. All of us held important positions in the Demacian government, and yet we were never discovered. We fed Noxus with important information, and thus we were always one step ahead of you fools. But to minimize any suspicions, we couldn't expose all of them at once, which is why your nation lives peacefully—until today."

"We have planned your assassination many years ago, Jarvan, along with your father. Because with the two of you dead, we will easily crush Demacia. Remember the "conscription policy" I suggested that time? The system was rigged, and we had secretly recruited Noxian soldiers into the army, without any of you suspecting! It's quite the number of men, and they all proved to be useful on this occasion. I assume you know we've planned to kill you tomorrow, during your speech. Unfortunately, one of my men discovered that you intruded into our hidden base under the warehouse this morning, right? Well, I decided to play safe and launch a surprise attack on you tonight to guarantee success. I still don't quite understand how you got out of that mess—my soldiers had you surrounded heavily."

"I received a little help from someone," Jarvan answered.

"Let me guess…the prisoner who you broke out of the dungeon?"

"Wait, how do you know that?"

"Do you think I am stupid enough to confirm that Twisted fate is supposed to be dead? When the assassins didn't reply, I was suspicious and sent my men to check. And oh boy, I never expected the assassins to be the ones dead, and the target missing! Let me guess…you wanted help from Twisted fate to look for Vayne, right? And speaking of which, I think you know already that we have Vayne in our hands."

"I know that. And you will pay if you dare even touch her!"

"Your angry face really entertains me, Jarvan. Poor Vayne. Even she didn't expect we would kidnap her. But that's what happened. She was surrounded in the warehouse that night, alone with no help, against us. And we took her down easily. I mean, really easily. But Vayne's disappearance encouraged you people to look deeper into us, which was, I admit, rather disruptive to our plans. I should have thought of the consequences of my actions. And after Twisted fate was sent to prison, I've sent my men to eliminate him for good. Turned out it failed."

"Are you the one who killed my father?" Jarvan asked.

The High General was silent for a few seconds.

"Tell me!" He shouted.

"Well, well, look who's angry? Too bad I'm not your father's killer, though I would be honored to be the one. On the flip side, I do know who killed your father. Don't bother to ask, Jarvan. I'm not kind enough to tell you that."

"Why did you tell us all of this?"

"Your deaths are inevitable, gentlemen. There's nothing I'll lose telling something to a dead man, isn't it?"

"And what makes you so confident?" Xin Zhao's tone was challenging.

"You're facing the man with the highest authority in Demacia, and you think I don't have weapons of my own?" He walked to his throne slowly and picked up a large metal shield, placed right underneath. The Demacian crest could be seen on it.

"The Randuin's Omen," Jarvan growled. "How dare you use my father's artifacts!"

"Your father said that it is to be handed over to the next successor of the throne. Well, I am the successor he appointed, so of course, I have the right to use it. I assume you know the strength of this shield, right?"

"You know very well Noxus can never be trusted, don't you? They'll abandon you some point in the future, deeming you useless to them. And yet you choose to follow that evil nation?"

"On the contrary, Prince Jarvan. I was actually pretty well paid by them in the past and will continue to after this historical event. The rewards I received for working for them—it's so, so much better than in Demacia. And now I will stop you from foiling what we have planned for years." He smiled devilishly, turning into a completely opposite of who Jarvan thought he was.

"Now, I will kill all three of you—in the Demacian way. And this is a deathmatch, my fellow Demacians. You won't be going anywhere other than this room. It's either you or me."

"I will not succumb to you! Never!" Xin Zhao charged at the High General, still holding his spear. In a blink of an eye, Xin Zhao closed the distance between himself and his enemy in less than a second. It was a technique he had practiced for years, and he often used it in battles, almost guaranteed to catch his target completely off guard.

However, he was facing an enemy who knew him all too well. The High General had anticipated this.

He positioned the shield between him and Xin Zhao and made his spear hit the metal instead, negating the entire blow. At the same time, the shield absorbed the force of Xin Zhao's blow—and rebounded right back to the attacker. Xin Zhao was knocked back by the force, landing right beside the two men, who watched the whole scene.

"Your old tricks won't work against me, Xin," William shouted. "And you two think you stand a chance against me?"

'Not as easily as you imagine, William!" Jarvan and Garen launched their attack on the High General. Garen's sword glowed and he jumped up, ready to smash it down onto the man. Jarvan leapt and was doing the same, apart from wielding a different weapon and attacking in a different angle.

The High General did not even flinch. Holding the Omen and the golden sword, he raised both of them and blocked both of their blows separately. Jarvan was knocked back by the shield, leaving Garen alone with him.

"How about we fight like a man?" William swung his sword at Garen, forcing him to be on the defensive, clashing his sword with the High General's, the sound of metal clanking against metal travelling through the air. Unfortunately, the High General was physically stronger than Garen, and his sword was way tougher and powerful than Garen's. After a few strikes, William drew back his sword briefly before he struck again, this time using all his might.

Garen's sword was knocked away.

Right after that, he pierced his sword into Garen's chestplate, going through it. Jarvan watched in horror.

"NNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

Garen backed off, pressing both of his hands against his wound. He was lucky that he was wounded in the abdomen instead of in his heart, and he was very lucky that his organs weren't stabbed.

"You're weaker than I thought, gentlemen. As your former military commander, I expect more from you people—"

He swung round instantly and blocked another attack from a recalcitrant Xin Zhao with the shield. He once again was knocked back.

"Your father had some really, really divine artifacts. I had to say, it might not be that you're weak—it might be just that I'm basically godlike with these weapons. You father had orders to give them to me after his death, and ironically, I'm going to use them to end your life. He might be regretting it right now, but it's all too late."

"You idiots come here and challenge me to a duel. Yet now you're already suffering injuries, and I'm not even hurt. Pretty stupid act, isn't it? I wonder who's going to save you now…"

At this very moment, someone stepped out of the hole where Jarvan came from. He was panting and sweating heavily.

"Ah, Twisted fate. I was wondering whether you will come and join them. Guess I was right."

Twisted fate was somewhat dumbfounded that he deduced his identity in only a few seconds, but he decided not to speak about it nonetheless.

"So." He was still panting for breath. "You are the High General? You're the one…who ordered those assassins to kill me…in the dungeon, right?"

"Indeed. And I can see that they failed. But I will ensure your death this time, now that you've come straight into the lion's den."

Twisted fate drew out a stack of gold cards and flung them all at William. He deflected most of the cards with his shield, but a few hit his armor and its magical effects kicked in, stunning him briefly, rendering him unable to move.

Then a blue card struck his armor. Yet the High General remained standing, still stunned but unhurt by the card, it dropping harmlessly to the ground. Right after that, he regained consciousness.

"My armor is supposed to be resistant to magic, but I can't believe your stun bypassed my resistances entirely. Anyway, now it's my turn."

He dropped his head and scarcely avoided a lance travelling in high speed, aimed for his head. It flew harmlessly over his head.

"Give up, Jarvan! You might be persevering, but you have to admit you cannot defeat someone as skilled as me!" He turned back to Twisted fate. "I've heard many stories of you, Card master. About how you managed to evade hundreds of bounty hunters and the whole police force in Piltover. However, you chose to show yourself in a room where there is clearly no escape, and nowhere to hide. That stupidity—didn't expect that from someone like you."

Twisted fate's eyes betrayed his fear.

He raised his golden sword and pointed it at the gypsy. "Do you know how much this sword weights? Around 15 pounds. It's likely the heaviest sword in the whole nation. You might be able to deflect small knives with your cards, but this? I doubt that. And I'm sure you won't be fast enough to outrun my sword."

As the High General spoke, Twisted fate noticed movement behind the proud Demacian as if the air was moving. He swore he had seen something.

"Give up, Twisted fate. Your cards won't save you, your friends won't save you, and you can't save yourself. Your luck has officially run out."

Right after he finished, Twisted fate could see an arrow heading towards William's back.

"Aarrgh!" The High General collapsed to the floor, dropping the Randuin's Omen as he pressed his hands against his back, where the arrow landed. The arrow must have pierced through his armor and straight into his flesh, as trails of blood flowed out from the place. At the same time, the seemingly empty air behind William transformed into a figure in less than half a second. The figure held a crossbow, and wore red and blue clothing, with a golden cape. Her eyes were covered by red sunglasses.

Everyone in the room gasped in surprise, including the High General.

"Vayne? Impossible! You were locked up by me last time I've seen you! You couldn't have escaped from that! I am confident it was properly secured—"

"You're mistaken, High General. It wasn't secure at all. I broke out of the place easily."

"It…it will take a miracle to do that." The High General was breathing heavily. "Can't believe I would die to a silver bolt tonight, rather than gloriously slain by Jarvan. You realize you are killing me, don't you?"

"I might spare you, if you tell me who you're working with," Vayne's tone was threatening. She stepped closer to the High General. "You couldn't have orchestrated all of this just by yourself. You were supplied with Hextech, something you can only get outside Demacia."

The High General was silent for a few seconds. Jarvan was about to speak when Vayne gestured him to keep quiet. He obliged.

"I'll tell you, on one condition." William finally replied. He was still motionless.

Suddenly, his right hand reached for the golden sword, which he dropped a while ago. Without hesitation, he hurled the sword at the unsuspecting Twisted fate.

Yet before the sword reached the gypsy, its course was interrupted and it spun in the air before landing onto the ground.

Twisted fate saw the heavy silver bolt on the ground which saved his life. Meanwhile, Vayne readied another bolt on her crossbow.

"Your struggles are pointless, High General."

"Demacia will fall," the High General said. "It is inevitable. Even though we have not achieved success in this revolution, we had already made a large dent in the Demacian military. You have already suffered unmeasurable losses. Days later, Noxus will send their army and invade your nation. And you will fail to stop it."

"There's someone out there, a dark power, who has risen. You may not know him, but you soon will, for he will conquer the whole of Valoran along with Noxus! He's someone all of you should fear."

His eyes locked on to the gypsy's.

"Especially you, Twisted fate. You. You won't get out of this."

Twisted fate could feel chills at his back. He held his gold card tightly.

"And I'm sorry, Vayne. My last words to you people are…get ready to dig your own graves."

Twisted fate saw a knife in the High General's fingers, deliberately hidden from anyone's sight. He smiled devilishly.

"Hail Noxus."

Before Vayne could stop him, he stabbed himself in the face with the knife. He didn't even scream—only the sound of flesh was heard. The knife stood straight on the High General's face.

The High General was dead.

Twisted fate just stared at the body. The man who had nearly succeeded in killing the Card Master was now lying on the floor, having committed suicide. His face condition was disturbing, prompting him to look away.

"Garen, are you all right?"

Jarvan had recovered and was crouching beside the wounded Garen.

Meanwhile, the Night Hunter was standing on the rails of the balcony, her head facing the night sky.

"Vayne! What are you doing?"

"I'll have to clean up the streets. The rebellion army is still down in the city."

"Wait—don't you mind telling me what happened to you these days?"

She looked back at Twisted fate.

"Not now."

"You really escaped out of that place yourself?"

"Yes." She answered without any hesitation. With that, she jumped off.

Twisted fate immediately ran over to the balcony and looked downwards. He could see the moat surrounding the castle—but no sign of the Night Hunter.

"She always has her way to disappear," Jarvan shouted to Twisted fate, while he himself was helping the wounded Garen out. "But for some reason, she never dies from those seemingly suicidal acts."

Twisted fate sighed. He had tons of questions in his mind to ask her.

"Anyway, our job is done here. Let's get the hell out of this place and settle the rebellion once and for all."

* * *

 **Author's note:**

 **10k words! Took two weeks to finish this. I tend to write longer at the last chapter of an act when I want to combine events so that things become more exciting.**

 **So here we are, at the end of the "first act" of the story (there will be a total of three).**

 **Do leave some feedback so as to help me improve on this story (I do not consider myself as an excellent writer). Many thanks!**

 **If you may notice, there is no Institute of War in this universe** _ **yet.**_

 **The chaotic rebellion in Demacia is stopped at the end (or how will the story continue?). However, it does raise a few questions. What are the next plans of Noxus? How can Noxus be stopped? Who is the mysterious "one" who helped orchestrate the whole rebellion?**

 **And most importantly, who is the killer of Jarvan's father?**

 **Stay tuned.**


	11. Chapter 10

"His health condition is stable, Prince Jarvan. But he will need to stay in bed for at least a few more days."

A few hours had passed since the devastating rebellion attempt, and it was already morning when Jarvan finished his work, so he arrived at the Royal hospital to check on Garen, who has been sent there for his injuries. The numbers of the wounded were soaring due to the revolution, so the hallway was crowded with doctors and nurses, busy with the sheer amount of work. A strong chemical smell was present in the air.

Now he was chatting with a nurse, who was wearing her usual white uniform.

"Very good. I appreciate your effort, and I'll come back next time. Here's a tip for you."

He showed the coins on his palm to the nurse.

"You're really kind." The nurse smiled cheekily as she collected the coins.

"Do you know where Lux Crownguard is?"

"She's at…the third floor. In the same room with Miss Buvelle, I guess."

"Thanks." Jarvan waved goodbye and headed for the stairs. Then he saw a man lying on a hospital bed. The person was in grave condition—his face was fully burnt, exposing half of his skull and jaw, leaving bits of flesh behind.

"His body wasn't any different." A doctor standing beside the person said sympathetically. "He died a few minutes ago. Can't believe he could live for a few hours like this."

"Do you know what happened to him?" Jarvan was horrified but kept his professional tone.

"He…something like a laser did this to him. His burn marks show that. Probably he met someone who used lasers as weapons."

 _I don't recall anyone I know who uses lasers as weapons._

Regardless, Jarvan left the scene, eager to see his friends. After a while, he arrived in front of the door of the room. He knocked.

"Prince Jarvan here!"

He waited. Moments later, the door opened.

It was Sona.

"Hey there! Nice to see you again!" Jarvan pulled the woman into a hug. "Glad you made through here safely!"

 _Well, we were lucky Xin's men found us first before the rebels did after we left your mansion._

"You have Fiora and Quinn on your side. No reason to be worried." He looked across Sona's shoulder and saw Lux lying on a bed. "And Lux! Glad to see you again. Luckily you guys are safe here in the hospital."

Lux gave him a warm smile. Then her face turned grim.

"Er…actually the hospital was attacked by a group of rebels during the rebellion attempt."

Jarvan's eyes bulged.

"What? But—but the hospital is in good condition—"

"A man saved us from them. I didn't see him in person, but the doctors told me he wielded guns which shot white lasers. When the rebels attacked, our soldiers stood no chance. Suddenly, he arrived in the middle of the fight and singlehandedly took down the group of men. After that, he left without a trace before the soldiers had the chance to thank him. I wonder who that guy is."

 _This person must have caused the burn marks of the poor guy downstairs._

Though Jarvan was relieved that the mysterious person saved the people in the whole building.

"No one recognized him? His facial features?"

"One of the doctors said he was black in skin colour. But that's it."

 _Never seen anyone black here in Demacia._

"Ok…how is your spine?"

"The doctors said the spine can be fully healed but will take a few weeks to do so. I originally thought my body would be entirely paralysed! Fortunately, we have some excellent doctors here in Demacia."

"I agree." Jarvan smiled back.

 _So…what exactly happened back in the palace?_

"Let me take my seat first."

Jarvan sat on the bed where Lux was lying.

"Garen, Xin Zhao, Twisted fate and me went to confront the High General."

"Wait, Twisted fate? Sona told me he escaped when your mansion was under attack."

"He came back and rescued me from a tight spot. If it wasn't for his efforts I would be dead already."

"How did—"

"When we separated, Sona, I ran into a group of rebels. They were strong, and I couldn't take any of them down. Suddenly Twisted fate appeared behind the men and killed all of them in a blink of an eye. Then he helped me escape and reach our military forces."

"But…how—"

"He did say he wanted something in return, and I guess that's his motivation. He's in my house now. I took him there after we put down the rebellion. The people are bewildered, but I assured them he is on our side, at least for now. I'll tell them more about that during my speech later."

"Oh yeah! You still have your speech today! I forgot that!"

"And I'll probably have to leave soon. It's nearly time. I need to tell you something first though."

The prince gestured the women to lean closer to him. He spoke quietly.

"Demacia is a dangerous place now. We don't know if they still had any spies left. We have to be vigilant. None of us knew they had planned such a scale of a rebellion for years! I can't believe the High General is the big mole among all of this. And worse of all,"

He clenched his fists.

"He had ties with Noxus!"

The two women dropped their jaws.

"No joke. He said that himself. Says Noxus provided them with the necessary resources and manpower—and they themselves are Noxian spies! We have Noxian spies in our army for so long!"

"How…how did they get in—"

"Eight years ago, my father introduced a new policy called the "Conscription policy". We were to recruit as many young men as we could into our military. At that time a substantial number of the men responsible for carrying out the policy must have already been infiltrated, because they recruited a group of Noxian men instead, and they must have helped forge their Demacian documents. And so in our military force, a significant number of people are moles, like a time bomb, ready to explode at any possible second."

"But that's what I can confirm. There are still some unsolved mysteries, and I plan to deal with them tonight. Buy for the next few days, both of you should stay here with Garen. Why don't I ask the doctors to move him here later? He room is downstairs."

"Sure, why not. I'll sleep more soundly if I have my brother at my side."

"Good. I'll leave some of my men in this hospital, just in case. Remember, Demacia is no longer the safe place we used to imagine. And by the way, we found Vayne."

"Really? Is she alright? Or…"

"Relax. She's perfectly fine. And to be more accurate, Vayne found us. She appeared in the throne room when we fought with the High General. And speaking of which, it's a long story. I'll tell you guys what exactly happened up there when I have time. Now I really have to leave, or else I'll be late for my speech. Be safe, Lux. See you, Sona.

Jarvan gave a reassuring smile before he shut the door and left. Lux looked at Sona in the eyes worrisomely.

"Since when did Demacia…become so corrupted?"

* * *

The Night Hunter sat on a sofa, reading a book. She had a lot to catch up. A lot of things had happened since she was kidnapped—and captured. The unpleasant memories of torture and pain still remained in her mind.

She swore not to fall into situations like these again. Just then, the doorbell rang.

"I'll open the door for you."

Quinn sped down the stairs from above and headed for the door, prompting Vayne to stay where she was.

On the doorsteps stood Jarvan, Twisted fate, and Xin Zhao. Twisted fate was in his original outfit.

"Hello, Quinn. Ah, and hello Vayne." Jarvan greeted.

He patted Quinn's shoulder.

"Thanks to you, our country is saved again."

"Not just me. All of us were vital to the defeat of the rebels. Even Twisted fate was of great help."

"I still find that hard to believe. But maybe there's some good in a man like him after all."

"Anyway, let us settle ourselves first. I'd like to grab a cup of coffee first."

After the men had grabbed their own food and drinks, they sat around a circular table. Twisted fate could see that they were relaxed and casual, not as serious as he imagined. Except for Vayne, of course. She never smiled, or at least pretended to smile, during the whole time.

It took a while for them to settle down.

"Let's begin," Jarvan said, drinking his cup of coffee. "Yesterday Demacia faced one of the most serious crises in history. Around thousands of rebels, led by High General William, launched an unexpected attack on the whole city yesterday, targeting me specifically. Well, we successfully defeated them, but not without significant property damage and loss of life. Even Garen and her sister Lux are hurt, and currently in the hospital. Now, I've heard from the High General himself that Noxus was behind this, but I need more supportive evidence. We can't guarantee this is the last attack from Noxus. Tell me what you guys got."

"I searched the documents the High General has in possession." Quinn took out a pile of documents from her bag. "They were discovered in the throne room by the soldiers. All of them were encrypted, so I used my Codex to decode it. Here are the copies of the few letters written by the High General, translated by me." She placed them on the table so that everyone could see it.

 _William,_

 _You have done well in infiltrating Demacia. There are already over a thousand men in their military whom is under our very command. Now, we have planned a new scheme, which can potentially end Demacia once and for all._

 _I am currently working with a partner on a new invention—the Demon's portal, we call it. As the name suggests, it is a portal which teleports anyone who stands in it to a specific destination._

 _Now, imagine this—what will happen if we can transport monsters both from the Shadow Isles and the Void dimension, two of the most demonic places ever existed in this world, to this world? Imagine what will happen if we successfully created an army of undead creatures! We will be unstoppable, and there will be no nation we cannot defeat. Once we created the army, we will obliterate every nation standing in Valoran, starting with Demacia, our sworn enemy for more than a century! And once Demacia falls…there will be no one who can stop us! At last, Noxus will be the one and only nation in the whole of Runeterra! We can't accomplish this so far, because of that imbecile "treaty" of all the nations. But it will turn into a scrap of paper once we attacked the nation with the strongest military force, and not even the other nations can help them, helpless as they witness Demacia be in ruins, and watch as their own nation is met with the same fate!_

 _Here's what you need to do if this magnificent plan is to work. At once notify all our men in Demacia of this. Prepare yourselves for a rebellion—to destroy Demacia we have to attack the inside and the outside. That will absolutely cripple them._

 _And don't worry about the King interfering with your plans—he and his son will be eliminated soon, by us. But that is unrelated to you. Just get ready—once we finished constructing the portal, we will inform you. It will take no longer than two weeks._

 _There is a map attached to this letter. The location shown on the map is the place where the portal will be accessible._

 _And keep this letter safe. It is crucial that outsiders cannot have access to this information._

 _Soon, our protracted wait will end, my friend. Just follow my instructions and we will shape up the perfect Noxian world in no time._

 _Signed,_

 _The Master Tactician_

" _ **Obliterate.**_ I like this word." Jarvan commented.

"It's obvious Swain wrote this," Quinn said. "I knew he is the one to blame for everything that has happened. It's no surprise that the Grand General of Noxus wants Demacia destroyed."

"That's not the worst of the problems. If the portal is built, it will bring chaos to us, the same as what Swain has written here." Vayne said. "The number of monsters in those dimensions is nearly limitless—we will stand no chance against them, no matter how hard we try."

Jarvan slammed the table.

"Then we must stop them. Days ago all of us have seen the strength of those monsters in my mansion. We cannot allow them into our world! Quinn, do you have the map of the place?"

"It's here." Quinn took out another sheet of paper, this time in a yellowish colour. "The place where the portal is built—is in the College of Techmaturagy."

"The College of Techmaturgy. The one standing on the canyon separating North and South Piltover?" Vayne asked.

"Yes."

"It's in Zaun."

"Zaun?" The word triggered a long-buried memory in Twisted fate. It was the very place where the ordinary Tobias Foxtrot transformed into the cunning, infamous Card Master.

"Zaun? I despise that place very much. I only know that people there are uncivilized and wild. There's basically no laws in that place!" Xin Zhao said.

"Zaun is an ally of Noxus. It's logical that they set up their secret weapon there." Jarvan added.

"What should we do?" Xin Zhao didn't like the situation at all.

"If the portal stuff is real, then we must stop it as soon as possible. We must head there and destroy the portal in two weeks!" Jarvan said.

"You're right. But who will be the one doing it?" Xin Zhao asked.

"Of course all of us should go! The more of us, the more likely we're able to succeed!" Quinn remarked.

"Wait! But some of us need to stay! We need someone to look over Demacia, in case anything happens." Jarvan said. "Who knows if they are still Noxian spies in the city?"

The others had failed to realize that.

"Er..….you're right." Xin Zhao answered. "I have my own special forces unit to govern. Without me Demacia will be a lot less safe, I reckon."

"I am Demacia's scout, and I'm pretty important. I guess my mobility is better used here." Quinn said.

"I will go. I'm the best person for the job," declared Vayne.

"And so will I. I'm absolutely sure they are responsible for my father's death, and I have to avenge him!" Jarvan looked determined. "And for you, Twisted fate, since you have nothing to do in Demacia…you will accompany us."

"What?" Twisted fate did not expect this. "But isn't the journey going to be dangerous?"

"It probably will," Jarvan said. "That's why we need more help. Your abilities are unique—it might come in handy during the journey."

"You don't have much of a choice, Twisted fate." Vayne's cold eyes stared into Twisted fate's.

"But…I might die along the way. You said it's dangerous…and its Noxus we're dealing with! They never leave any survivors. Besides, I've already helped you defeat the High General yesterday!"

"If you refuse, Twisted fate, then—" Quinn threatened but was interrupted by Jarvan.

"You did well yesterday, Twisted fate. Let's put it in this way—we need you to help us one more time. Should you accept this mission—"

He deliberately paused for a second as he considered carefully what he was about to say next.

"I will free you from your life sentence, and grant you citizenship of Demacia."

"Wait—citizenship of Demacia? Does that mean—"

"Yes. You will be able to live in Demacia as long as you like, and we will treat you like a proper Demacian. Such as defending you from Piltover."

"That looks like an excellent deal." Twisted fate thought the offer was too good to pass up. After all, he had nothing to lose.

"That is insane, Jarvan. Despite what he had done, don't tell me you're actually going to hand over Demacian citizenship to a fool like him!" Quinn could not accept Jarvan's decision.

"Jarvan, I understand he saved your life, but it's not that we lack good fighters. Why pick him out of all people?" Xin Zhao said.

"I can see that Twisted fate is trying to reform himself, or else he wouldn't have saved me last night. Besides, he can be of great help to us—after all, he is the only mage sitting in this room. I would have chosen Lux, but I think all of you know her condition right now. She can't fight."

"So you're implying that you need a mage to accompany you. I agree with that, but there are so many talented mages in the College of Magic, and I'm sure some of them must be superior to Twisted fate." Quinn still wasn't convinced.

"Twisted fate is much more experienced that you think. Sure, the mages at the College might be more skilled, but they've never been in any life-threatening situations. Meanwhile, Twisted fate had made his way out of extremely dire situations before, which is very likely to be what we will be facing in this journey. He has the best survivability right now." Vayne explained.

And Vayne's words were way more convincing than Jarvan's. Now even Quinn started to think that it wasn't such a bad idea after all.

"Maybe you're right. He does have some remarkable tricks up his sleeve."

"So it's set. Me, Vayne and Twisted fate. Remember, this is a very dangerous mission. We will leave tomorrow before sunrise because I want to start our mission as soon as possible. And speaking of which, keep our mission a secret. The fewer people know about this, the better. It's probably the safest way."

"Very well. I shall follow your orders." Xin Zhao said.

"Everyone agrees with this arrangement, right?"

Everybody in the room nodded.

"Very well. Now let's map out the routes we need to take…"

* * *

It was five o'clock in the morning, and the sun hadn't even barely risen. No one would have been awake at this hour, except those working on night shifts.

Yet standing at the docks of the Demacian Seaport were a group of Demacian soldiers, along with Quinn, Xin Zhao, Vayne, Jarvan IV and a certain fatigued, exhausted gypsy. Stationed beside them was a rather large "Cabin cruiser", as Jarvan called it.

"This is a pretty good boat of mine. It's made in Piltover, so expect it to be luxurious and you'll see Hextech all over the place. It even has an automatic Hextech motor, so we will reach Zaun in around four days."

"Good luck, Prince Jarvan. We wish you three all the best." The Demacian soldiers bowed down in front of Jarvan.

"If you found out what they're up to, contact us immediately. We will mobilize the troops as soon as possible." Quinn said.

"That's a no-brainer, Quinn."

"See you when you come back. Bring some good news. And please don't die."

"I'll come back, don't worry,"

As Jarvan was saying his goodbyes, Vayne stood beside him, watching the whole scene. Twisted fate, however, was staring mindlessly at the sea. He yawned over and over again, his eyes struggling to stay open.

 _Damn. Only got three hours of sleep. I actually wonder how I managed to get here this tired. Perhaps jumping into this water will keep me awake—_

 _Wait! What are you thinking? Why on earth will you jump into the ocean?_

Twisted fate then realized he was standing at the very edge, one tiny step away from thin air. He immediately backed a few steps away, unable to believe what he had almost done. He looked around and confirmed no one saw his actions.

"Jarvan, it's time we should leave," Vayne said.

"Oh, yeah. I'd better be going now. See you, my fellow Demacians."

Jarvan gave Quinn a hug.

"You'll be the one responsible for the whole army, Xin, during my leave. Wish you luck."

"Same."

"Well then. Time is running out. Let's go! Hey, Twisted fate, what are you doing there?"

The gypsy stood up straight.

"Oh yeah, sorry. Heh, heh. I'm coming, don't worry."

Quinn gave a puzzling look.

"No seriously, I'm fine. Just a bit sleepy."

The three of them boarded the ship, along with a few of Jarvan's men, who would be helping them on the boat but wouldn't be accompanying them on the journey. It was a while later did they finally leave the port.

Twisted fate looked at the docks and waved. His journey had officially begun.

* * *

 **Author's note:**

 **Now the adventure begins as Twisted fate and his fellow Demacians have to confirm the existence of the Demon's portal.**

 **You should probably understand the meaning of the story's title right now;p**


	12. Chapter 11

It was already midday when Jarvan and his team prepared their lunches on the ship. The scorching heat was unbearable, and the blinding sunlight shone onto their faces.

"We have some bread here. Actually, I brought loads of bread for our trip."

"Jarvan, you said you will handle food supplies, but can't you bring more types of food? Don't tell me you only brought bread for the trip!"

"Well, technically that's what I did. I did bring along some jam though, so there are many different types of flavors you can try—"

"You may be a bread addict, but I can't stand eating bread all day, Jarvan," Vayne said sternly.

"Oh c'mon, this is one of the best types of bread you can find in Demacia! Perhaps you should try it out."

Meanwhile, Twisted fate was watching the sea view, his hands holding the handrail, fully awake after sleeping in the cabin for four straight hours. He hadn't seen the ocean for a while, since all of his criminal activities were in inner lands, so it had been some time since he travelled by ship. The sea air was refreshing, and the water surface was near peaceful. It was quiet except the voice of the hextech motors at the end of the boat.

At first, Twisted fate did not expect to reach Zaun by ship—he thought they would reach there by land. However, the gypsy regretted the idea straight away after he was told by Jarvan that they had to go over the Ironspike Mountains to get to Zaun—which was itself a mysterious and unexplored region, and known to be near impossible to climb. Legends say there is an ancient Cryophoenix who has resided somewhere in the mountains for more than a millennium.

Since the Ironspike valley surrounded the entire north-eastern part of the supercontinent, the only other accessible way to enter Zaun was via waters—there was a port at Zaun, and it was relatively close to the College of Techmaturagy.

"Sir, do you know that there were reports of increasingly frequent pirate activities around the Conqueror's sea? There is a significant risk we might—"

"No fear, my dear sailor. First, that information is not true at all, and secondly, why fear for our safety when we have such a talented group of people?"

"But there were rumors that even the King of Pirates Gangplank himself came here—"

"So be it! They should be the ones running away from us, not the other way round! They won't stand a chance against us! Now stop this nonsense and keep on with your work."

"Yes, Sir."

Jarvan then continued to munch on his raisin bread.

"Twisted fate! Do you want to try out some of my bread? I guarantee it's the best bread you can find in the world." He yelled.

"Pardon?" Twisted fate turned his head. "Sure, why not." He went to Jarvan and took a piece of the bread.

"You like the feeling on a hextech boat?" Jarvan said. "It's also my first time. I'm rather astonished by how Hextech is developed in Piltover in such a quick rate—they really live up to their fame. I've heard that soon there will be Hextech-driven land vehicles, and I'll be the first one to try it. Feels good, doesn't it?"

"Quite so. I don't have many chances to enjoy much luxury." The gypsy answered.

"Oh. You do now. It's fun, isn't it? You live like a king here…but too bad we have a mission on our backs," he reminded.

"You're kinda right."

"Well then. I'll leave you here then. Enjoy these moments before our hard work begins." Jarvan said before he left. Twisted fate then continued to stare at the sea as mindlessly as always.

* * *

The sky had been dark for some time.

It was the third night, and they would reach Zaun in less than 12 hours.

The moon had disappeared, so it was completely black outside, and not even the water could be seen. There was literally no light out in the sea, and it was the cruiser which illuminated the nearby water surface. If it weren't for the light, it would have been pitch black—completely pitch black.

Twisted fate stared at the sea, standing in the same position as he did for the whole trip. He yawned. Actually, he had yawned for countless times before that. He didn't do much that day but felt exhausted for some reason.

 _It's late now. Perhaps I should go to bed instead._

"You stood here for quite some time, didn't you?"

Twisted fate almost jumped out of his skin. He turned and saw the person who scared him.

"Vay—"

Before he knew it her hand was already covering his mouth.

"No need to say that." Her voice was as cold as ever.

"Why are you here this late?"

"What did I tell you back in my house?"

"Er…that's a pretty weird question."

"Just answer it."

He didn't remember much…did she say anything important?

"I don't recall you telling anything important," he replied.

 _Or was there? He remembered something…_

"Garen told me he found you in my bedroom."

"Yeah. Is that a problem?"

Though he had already realized what Vayne was talking about.

"Don't act innocent. You were there before Garen came, right?"

"Yeah. Right. I did."

"Why were you there in the first place?"

"I was…just curious, and I can't control myself. I sincerely apologize."

"I don't sense any sincerity here, Twisted fate. And what did you do there?"

"I just sorta hung around your room. Saw your artifacts. Nothing else."

"Really? Nothing else?"

"Nothing else."

Twisted fate could feel her eyes locked on to his, despite she wore her iconic sunglasses. He was sure she didn't believe a word of his.

So he kept silent.

Vayne let go of him and crossed her arms, while the gypsy continued to stare at the sea.

"Listen. I've certain you knew more than that. I can already see signs of lying from your face. We might be in the same boat now, but if you dare say a word about what you've seen in the room…I'll make sure you regret it. And don't think you'll get away with this—I will find you, not matter how elusive you think you are."

"Is that such a big deal, Vayne? There's no need to be so serious about this, isn't it? I promise I won't speak of it, but…Vayne?"

She was gone. Instead, he found himself talking to thin air.

 _She really likes to disappear from my sight. I wonder how she did that. But_ _maybe she really has a boyfriend, or else why would she care so much?_

As he pondered the question he walked back to his cabin, smirking. _So Vayne has a soft point after all._

* * *

The next morning.

 _Why is it so dark outside?_

Twisted fate had woken up, half naked, and was looking out of the window whilst lying on the bed. He could see the clouds, which were rather…dark in colour.

Suddenly, there came an unexpected "BOOM", which made Twisted fate instantly jump out of bed.

"Woah! What was that? A bombshell?"

He quickly got himself dressed and ran out of his cabin, wondering what was happening outside.

It turned out that the whole sky was filled with dark clouds, blotting out the sunlight. The temperature dipped greatly, vastly different from the day before. The sea surface was peaceful as ever, but he guessed that it would change in a short time.

Twisted fate saw a bright flash of light far away, which he recognized as a thunderbolt. Within seconds the sound of thunder could be heard, like a bombshell, exactly the same as what he had heard when he woke up.

It was a thunderstorm. And it was not to be underestimated.

"Sir! A huge storm is coming! I advise you to stay in your cabin!"

It was one of Jarvan's men, who was also a sailor on the ship.

"Does Prince Jarvan know about this?"

"Oh, right! I'll have to inform him about this! You stay here and wait while I go and look for the Prince!"

"There's no need to look for me. I'm right here."

The sailor turned and saw the man standing right behind him, smirking.

"Oh! Well then…you heard the thunder, right? I'm sure the whole world can hear it!"

"Geez, that thunder jolted me awake! Anyway, we have a pretty huge storm ahead. It stands in our way to Zaun, right?"

"Yes. And it's heading for us! Maybe we can just try and force our way through the storm-"

An ear-popping, thunderous explosion was heard miles away, louder than ever.

"I guess that's not the case, David. This thunderstorm will strike us down. How far are we from Zaun?"

"We're just 10 minutes away from Zaun, but not if the storm remains here. And it's heading for us, so we can't escape from it in time."

"Dammit. If we can't stay in the sea, we have to get to land as soon as possible."

"You can see Zaun right here, actually." The sailor pointed to a direction far away. Just like what he had said, a glimpse of a speck of land could be seen in the distance.

"Great. We will head there right now. Tell the captain that we will not change course."

"But…but it's going to be dangerous to venture into a storm this strong!"

"David, if we're just 10 minutes away from our destination, why shouldn't we make it there? And you might have forgotten that there's a rooftop shelter built in the Zaun port. If we get there, not only us, but this vessel will also be safe from the storm!"

"You're right, sir."

As the sailor left the scene, Twisted fate stared at the grey clouds ahead, which might spell doom for them.

"What time is it, Prince Jarvan?"

"It is…five-thirty. In the morning."

"What? It's so early?"

Twisted fate felt unusually tired after hearing this. Yet the sun was blotted out so he couldn't really find out the time of day.

"Whatever, we need to get out of this storm. It's going to be dangerous." Jarvan said.

The thunderous sound came again. Just then, Twisted fate could feel liquid hitting his head.

It was starting to rain. And this wasn't good news.

"The weather's getting worse. Help me move the things outside the cabin to indoors! Nothing is safe outside the cabin! We need to act now if we want to survive this!" Jarvan yelled because all of a sudden a gust of wind swept by and his voice almost died in the air.

As the people on the ship were preparing themselves, the storm was starting to close the distance between itself and their cruiser. The number of lightning increased around them, and the winds became stronger, forming gigantic waves just as what Twisted fate had expected. The rain had only become heavier, and there were already puddles of water on the deck. The conditions were worsening.

Unfortunately, they were still two miles away from the Zaun port.

It wasn't until a few minutes later did every person on the cruiser assemble in the Bridge (the room where the steering wheel was located).

"We're already heading straight for Zaun, prince Jarvan. But we're still cutting into part of the storm and although it's not as destructive, it might be able to sink us," the captain said.

"It's risky, but it's the safer option. After all, we don't have much of a choice. We can't escape from the storm in time." Jarvan answered.

"Shouldn't Zaun authorities inform us of this storm, back in Demacia?" Vayne questioned.

"They claimed the sky was clear with no sign of bad weather!" Another sailor said. "The storm must have been formed very recently, or else they would have detected it."

"Guys, look at the waves outside."

"What's the matter, Twisted fate—HOLY—"

It was no longer calm outside the cruiser. The frequency of thunder had doubled, bombarding the whole sky, and constant jagged bolts of lightning illuminated the dark sky. The wind howled behind the windows that separated them from the outside world as if it was taunting them. The rain was now pouring heavily, obstructing the view. If there was another ship in front of them, they will only see it barely, which made matters worse.

But luckily there was a radar display screen that helped detected objects, including land. That way, they wouldn't be completely blind to their surroundings.

A flock of seagulls soared high up in the air, seemingly safe and unaffected by the violent weather.

 _If only we were up there like those birds,_ the gypsy thought.

Suddenly, Twisted fate could feel the whole vessel bump into something hard. A huge wave slammed onto the bow of the ship head on, knocking the whole cruiser up by 40 degrees. Everyone in the room slipped and fell backwards, except the captain, who sat steadily on his seat, and Vayne, who had grabbed the Captain's seat in time and prevented herself from falling. Twisted fate slipped all the way to the end of the room, bumping his head.

"How—how the hell did you react so quickly?" Twisted fate asked while he struggled to stand up.

"None of your business," Vayne replied. Just then, the ship then crashed back to the sea, tossing them like toys in a room.

"Hang on tight, guys! This will be tough until we reach the shelter!" Jarvan warned. "Hold on tight to the steel bars!"

"Wait, what is that on the radar?"

On the radar was a green spot, which represents the cruiser. On the northern side was a large area of blue, which presumably represents Zaun territory.

Then there was a red spot on the southern part of the radar.

"What does red represent?" Twisted fate asked.

"It means…...other boats." The captain replied.

"Boats? Why will they be in such a storm at this hour? They shouldn't be here! Or maybe they're also stuck in this sea, like us." Jarvan suggested.

"That might not be the case. In fact, they're heading for us."

"Heading for us? Why on earth will someone do that? Unless…"

"They're pirates!" David exclaimed. "But hold on, not even pirates have ships that can sail in this kind of weather."

"No idea. What we know now though is that they haven't sunk and are after us."

"Just stay on our course, captain. I'm sure once we entered the shelter, we'll be safe."

Suddenly, a high-pitched sound, like a scream, was heard. Twisted fate noticed a high-speed unknown object on the left side of the cruiser, speeding through the air. It then dived into the water right beside the boat, resulting in a huge explosion of water. The shockwave tilted the boat slightly.

The group was rather shocked by what happened.

"That…that's a missile, right?" David asked.

"They're aggressive towards us! They must be pirates!" Jarvan said. "They might even blow our cruiser up!"

"They move very quickly according to the radar. How on earth do they do that?"

"Pirates do own some of the most well-equipped ships, Twisted fate," Vayne answered. "We won't be able to outrun a pirate ship. And we can't even see what the ship looks like in this kind of weather."

Suddenly, an even louder explosion could be heard, shocking the whole boat and tilting to the left, only this time it stayed tilted.

"Why didn't the ship shift back to its position?" Twisted fate asked.

"It must be one of those missiles. It hit our cruiser on the left!" David said. "The motor seems undamaged but at this rate, we will get sunk before we reach the port!"

"Then we must destroy that hostile ship. Captain, we have two missile launchers on this ship, but do we have missiles?"

"We do have a decent number of them."

"Great."

"But it takes some time to load those launchers. By then it might be already too late."

"**** . So what should we do? Surely they will continue to fire their missiles!"

During this time, Twisted fate had his eyes closed, because he was channeling his spell Destiny and had already seen who was on the enemy ship. He couldn't work out what the ship looked like, but he could see two men standing in front of their own missile launcher, its head pointing at the cruiser, while in a dark room. Two men were on the bridge of the ship, sitting in front of a large number of buttons. And standing behind the two men was none other than the King of Pirates.

Gangplank, the Saltwater scourge.

 _Why didn't I know this earlier? It's obvious that he is the only pirate that has the guts to raid the Prince's ship!_

He could teleport into the vessel and kill the men responsible for the missile launching, but then Gate would be on cooldown and he wouldn't be able to get out in a short time. And he was sure that Gangplank was smart enough to suspect something when no one fired the missiles, essentially turning the gypsy into a sitting duck. And teleporting directly into the bridge room? Out of the question. Gangplank was notorious for being a tough duelist, which he didn't have the slightest of chances of beating.

So what can he do?

Wait, he didn't need to be physically near the missile launchers to destroy them. If he controlled his cards with his mind, he could command them to the launchers—and destroy them.

"I can stop them."

Everyone else was baffled by the idea.

"How can you stop them?" David asked.

"I have the ability to command my cards using mind control. So I can command my cards to their missile launchers and destroy them."

"In this kind of weather? And rain? Won't your cards get blown away? Or anything?"

"Well, rain cannot ruin the magic within my cards, and I'm confident I can control it fairly well. Even at far range."

"Not a good idea in my opinion."

David though Twisted fate's powers were limited to just throwing cards, not such advanced tricks.

The ship then took another shock for the second time.

"Jarvan! We must do something right now! Or else we'll sink in the next few seconds!"

"Fine! Twisted fate, do whatever you're planning in your mind!" Jarvan ordered.

Twisted fate drew out a red card, and infused it with his mana. He needed it to be more durable than usual in order to survive the harsh weather conditions.

Then he let go of the card.

The card first descended, halted and floated in mid-air, like magic. Then it flew out of the room, spinning, down the stairs and out of the door into the storm.

At first, it was hugely affected by the powerful winds and it flew to the left unintentionally. But then Twisted fate concentrated hard and successfully made the card overpower the winds, reverting back to a straight line. Even the relatively larger and heavier water droplets did not become a nuisance.

A minute later, it reached Gangplank's ship.

Twisted fate could see the ship from the card's view—it has a similar size and shape as the cruiser, also a double-deck ship, but was made in metal, coloured like a military tank. It had two pipes at two sides of the ship.

Not pipes, but missile launchers. The culprit of the whole ordeal.

Twisted fate was about to command the card to dive towards one of them when he thought of a new idea:

 _Why don't I just kill the two men instead? That's even better! That way I don't need to destroy the other missile launcher using another card!_

With that, he commanded the card to go straight into the small round opening of the launcher.

But the card did not destroy the launcher. It destroyed its way into the room where the two men were standing. Twisted fate grinned as he saw the surprised faces of the men before killing them in mere seconds.

Then the Card master broke his mental link with the card, breaking himself from his trance.

"It's done, guys. I disabled the missile launchers."

"What? Are you kidding me?"

"Believe me, there won't be any missiles from now on, David." He replied, not exactly cool with the sailor's attitude.

True to his word, the cruiser was not attacked afterwards.

"Sir, we have already arrived at the Zaun shelter."

Indeed, in front of the cruiser was a large port encased in a huge building.

"In addition to that, the enemy ship is switching course, heading towards the open sea instead of us. We're safe."

"Well, thanks to Twisted fate," Jarvan said. "He deserves a round of applause."

Jarvan clapped. So did Twisted fate. Then the others obliged and joined them.

"A marvelous achievement, Card master." The captain praised.

As the cruiser sailed into the indoor port in joy, the other ship was not so happy about the result.

"Why didn't those two idiots fire the goddam missile? Find them, and bring them to me!" Gangplank yelled at his henchmen, who immediately obliged, not wanting to further enrage the pirate.

"You won't get away with this, Jarvan. One day, I will get my hands on your precious wealth, Demacian prince."

* * *

It turned out that the storm stayed in Zaun for the whole day.

Jarvan had originally planned to hire a carriage that travelled directly from the port to the College of Techmaturagy, but they couldn't leave the port because of the storm. So the group had to spend their time in the port—everyone except Twisted fate roamed around the technologically-advanced port, exploring every corner of the place. The gypsy stayed in the carrier, fearing that his identity would be exposed—which was something that he did not want to happen.

It was already late into the night when the storm finally calmed. Jarvan made the call to stay in Zaun for one night, despite Vayne's protests, due to him claiming that "it was a tiring day" and "the carriage wouldn't arrive until tomorrow".

They decided to stay in a hotel near the port. Twisted fate took off his hat, hoping that people wouldn't recognize him easily because of it.

Now Jarvan was standing in front of the reservation desk, booking for the night, while the others hung around.

"Where's David?" The captain asked. "Haven't seen him for a while."

"He said he wanted to buy some food for us," Vayne replied. "Must have taken him some time to look for a restaurant."

The other sailor, who Twisted fate had not chatted with before, was leaning against the wall, smoking a cigar.

"He doesn't talk much, but he's a hard-working guy though. Have to give him credit for that."

"How did Gangplank own such a durable warship?

The captain froze.

"What? It's a warship?"

"I saw it with my spell. Couldn't be wrong. And it looks advanced in terms of technology."

"That's terrible! Imagine if someone like Gangplank owns a warship! He's already a monster in the seas, destroying every fleet he sees with the Leviathan, Swain's warship. Now you're giving him the technology to play with. Soon he's going to dominate all the seas in Valoran! That's an even bigger threat to our navy!"

"The pirate is a problem. But we have more important matters to deal with first, and it can potentially be the end of all of us." Vayne said.

Twisted fate looked around. The hotel lobby was large and rather luxurious, and quiet, with less than 10 people in the lobby. It was a comforting sight, after experiencing the life-threatening situation back in the cruiser. Twisted fate almost thought he would die there. His heart jumped as he recalled the events.

"Guys, I've booked six rooms for you guys. One person for each room. Captain, you can sail back to Demacia with the other sailors, or stay here for a while, if you're afraid of another attack."

"I won't take a chance. I'm staying here."

"Well then. The hotel assistants will lead us to our rooms."

The hotel assistant, who was a female, led them to the elevator. Twisted fate had taken an elevator before, during his stay in Zaun, but the Demacians seemed new to this invention. The assistant had to explain to them for a while before they could go up.

"Why did the reservation take so long?" Vayne asked when they were in the elevator.

"The receptionist said she "had special orders to take from her boss", so she held on her phone call for quite a while before she talked to me. Says her boss wanted to provide us the best rooms as they can."

"That's very caring of them."

They arrived shortly at their rooms, in a hallway.

"Here is your room, Twisted fate. And here's what they call a "key card". You can open the door by placing it right beside the sensor beneath the door knob. Like this." He did what he himself had said and the door unlocked. Jarvan pushed open the door.

"Let's call it a day, Twisted fate. Rest well, and we'll meet at the breakfast hall tomorrow morning at eight, all right? The breakfast hall is on the second floor."

"Got it."

"Good night then, Twisted fate. Our rooms are all beside you, so if you have any problem feel free to come. See you tomorrow."

Twisted fate entered the room and closed the door.

 _Whew. What a day._

He looked at the room. It was a rather standard room, with a restroom, a large bed, a table, two chairs, and a window which faced the sea.

And a refrigerator?

It wasn't the refrigerator that surprised Twisted fate—he had seen plenty of these Piltover inventions in Zaun, but it was the shape of the refrigerator. It was really large in size—around two meters wide, with two comparatively short and small legs supporting it. A huge circular button in light-blue colour was on the lid of the fridge, blinking in colour, compelling him to press it.

Which he did.

He pulled the lid, and instantly a gust of cold—no, freezing wind burst out from it. Twisted fate immediately shut the lid.

 _How can this refrigerator be so cold? It's worse than Frejlordian winter!_

Regardless, he decided to just take a simple shower and sleep straight away.

As Twisted fate sat on his bed though, he felt that something was not right from his senses. It might be because of the strange shape of the refrigerator, but his mind told him that something bad was about to happen.

Something was wrong. But the Card master had no idea what it was.

* * *

 **Author's note:**

 **Can you predict what will happen in the next chapter?**


	13. Chapter 12

The night streets of Zaun were near silent. The only light source were the lampposts beside the street, and there was not a sign of any people strolling around. The streets were wet and slippery due to the storm beforehand, one of the reasons why no one wanted to come out in the first place. The abnormal silence was also quite eerie, like a typical scene in a horror story.

Although most of Zaun was an undercity, lying in deep canyons and valleys, there was a large city of Zaun above ground, near the sea, which was why the port of Zaun was built there. It was a recently built one too, and thus the structures of its buildings, such as those beside the street, were more similar to Piltover's and more distinct to its undercity cousins. Actually, this part of Zaun was more similar to Piltover than it was supposed to. It had noticeably lower crime rates, and tourists were more likely to visit this part of Zaun more, as the undercity was known to be unfriendly towards newcomers.

Suddenly, out of the blue, a shadowy figure stepped into the street, at the opposite side of a certain hotel near the port. The person was walking in swift steps towards the hotel door.

A bellman of the hotel saw the person, rushed to the door and opened it as the figure stepped into the hotel lobby hurriedly.

"Sir, how may I help you? You looked very rushed at this time of day," The bellman asked.

"Sorry, I have to get to the receptionist right now. It's an urgent matter," the man replied rudely, not even looking back.

Usually, there weren't any people who would visit the hotel this late, so the receptionist was rather surprised that she would have company.

The man was fumbling for his pocket, searching for something. When he arrived he took it out and placed it on the reception desk.

"Tell me where the room of Prince Jarvan of Demacia is located."

The receptionist instantly disliked his attitude and his tone of speaking.

"Sir, I do not know what you're talking about, please do not speak nonsense—"

"Do you know that Twisted fate himself is in this very building?"

The receptionist froze.

"Pardon me?"

"Just now Prince Jarvan checked in with a bunch of people, right? Well, one of them is Twisted fate. Take a look at this.

On the desk was a sketch of Twisted fate's appearance, which was rather close to the actual person, including his outfit. Upon seeing the outfit, even the receptionist, who had never seen the Card master herself, but had heard of, was convinced.

"You understand how dangerous the situation is? Now, tell me where his room is."

* * *

"Owoooooooooooooooooooooooo—"

Twisted fate was lying on his bed, eyes closed. On the bed was a map of the port and nearby buildings, which he had retrieved from the hotel lobby, and had thoroughly read before he slept. It was a common practice of his to memorize his surroundings, because as a professional criminal (at least that's what he thinks) there's a tendency for him to escape at unpredictable times, and it would be better for him to know which routes to take.

Yet his mind was not as peaceful as he looks.

 _The corridor was completely different from what he had seen a few hours ago. It was dimly lit with a lantern, the wall brown instead of white. There were doors on both sides for every seven feet, exactly facing each other. It was unusually foggy, and he could see only a few feet away—_

The gypsy was breathing heavily.

 _The atmosphere was unpleasant, and he had an eerie feeling that something was at his back, ready to pounce on him any moment—_

He was clutching his blankets tightly and sweating hard.

 _I remember! I remember this voice! The ringing of bells!_

Twisted fate's hands moved under the bedsheet towards his trousers. Slowly he drew out a yellow card and held it in the air.

 _The sound became louder and louder, nearly unbearable._

"This won't happen again."

The card master threw the card and simultaneously opened his eyes, only to find himself in a bedroom instead of a spooky corridor. He blinked, unable to distinguish reality and dream, just as the sound of his card was heard, which must have hit something.

 _Whew. It was the nightmare, again. Twice in a row? I don't get it._

The gypsy sighed in relief. He thought Jarvan I's zombie was going to get him again. Then he remembered that he had thrown a card. He wondered what it had hit.

 _Probably the ceiling or something._

He kicked the blankets off the bed and raised his body.

It turned out that the card had hilariously—or unluckily—hit the strange-looking refrigerator. Twisted fate couldn't believe that it would land on that particular spot.

"Can't believe my luck, again."

Twisted fate would have further investigated the odd-looking refrigerator, but it was in the middle of the night and he did not find the strength to get up.

 _Duh, I'll do that tomorrow._

He then laid back on his bed and stared at the ceiling. All was calm.

But he was rather plagued by the dream he had earlier. It was disturbing, in a way, but what made it puzzling was how the dream came twice in a row while being totally identical. This had never happened before.

 _Does it have any hidden meaning in it? It shouldn't just be a coincidence._

All of the sudden, he heard an out-of-the-world voice in the room. He ignored it at first, but no matter how long he waited it still went on, no sign of stopping. Then there came a bright flash of light-blue colour, the same as the button on the refrigerator.

 _What was that? Aren't there already enough weird things that have happened tonight?_

Reluctantly he got back up from his bed and saw what actually happened.

It turned out that it was the refrigerator, again. Or was it?

Because in place of the fridge was a…robot. It was fully white and shaped like a human, except its body was round and looked really tough. It stood on two longer legs and had two large, menacing arms. And on the top of the whole robot was a comparatively smaller…head. There was a screen on the head, where two light-blue squares—presumably its "eyes"—resided. The button was in the middle of its chest.

Twisted fate had never seen a robot before, so it was hard to hide his surprise. Especially when it appeared in his own room.

"Metal is harder than flesh."

 _It knows how to talk? What the hell is this?_

"Order: Need to capture Card Master."

"I'm…I'm not the Card master!" The gypsy knew it was a stupid and desperate lying attempt, but there was an extremely slim chance that the robot might believe it. On the other hand, he was mystified by the sudden turn of events. One second he was in bed, the next second a refrigerator, allegedly, transformed into a robot and threatened to capture him. It was rather amusing, in a way.

The robot stayed in its place for a few seconds. Twisted fate thought it might have worked, even if he refused to believe it.

Then it emitted a blue laser onto the gypsy's head. Twisted fate watched as the light moved around his whole body, like a scanner.

"Scanning: Complete. Confirmed: Person is Card master."

 _Well, I shouldn't have thought that would work._

Twisted fate had already gotten off the bed. Secretly he drew a gold card and was ready to attack.

"Master has ordered you not to retaliate. Or else you will face death."

The robot's voice was completely flat, unlike a human's. Very robot-like, indeed.

"Ok, ok, I will surrender."

 _If the gold card I just threw before worked, then this one will too. Once I immobilize him, I will teleport away. Time should be sufficient before he gets to interrupt me._

But then he remembered his allies. Surely he can't just leave them behind?

 _How about this: I immobilize him, then run to Jarvan's room and tell him what happened. I can throw additional gold cards just in case._

He, however, reminded himself that the stun effect of gold cards diminishes over time on a single person in a short period.

"You seem that you are planning to escape. For safety reasons, I will now need to secure you first—"

"That's unnecessary, robot." Twisted fate said before launching his weapon, thinking that things would go as planned.

He was wrong.

Before the gypsy could react he saw the robot's right hand suddenly launch in a deadly speed towards him. Its fingers reached his body, clenched him tightly, and immediately pulled the gypsy back to the robot. The gold card then hit the robot's head, stunning it as planned. Yet he couldn't escape from the robot's unusually tight grasp. In only a matter of seconds Twisted fate's attack was foiled—instead, he was attacked first.

When the robot regained its conscience it detected the poor gypsy in his robotic hand, like a prisoner.

"You cannot escape me, Card master."

 _How is that reaction speed even possible? Well, perhaps I shouldn't underestimate robots then._

"Who is your master?"

"My…my master is—"

The robot was interrupted by the sound of the door opening. Curiously, Twisted fate turned and saw who opened the door.

At the door stood two individuals. One was a gentleman who wore a tidy white tuxedo and a black ribbon under his neck, whilst holding a large hammer. One had pink hair and wielded two gigantic metal gauntlets. Two letters were marked on her face: "VI".

He had met both of them. Multiple times. Especially during the bank heist in Piltover.

It was at this moment that Twisted fate knew, he ****** up.

"Twisted fate." Vi greeted, though obviously not in a friendly way.

"Oh, hello there, Vi. You miss me?"

"Don't act cool, gypsy. You haven't paid for your crimes in Piltover, and in so many more places. And now…you came to Zaun—and right into us. I can finally lay my fists on you, Card master."

"Seems that you have met our latest invention, Blitzcrank. He's a pretty advanced robot, you know. Took us loads of effort and years to build and perfect him. And look what he can do now!" Jayce added.

 _Only Piltover can afford and create something like Blitzcrank, to be honest. Or Zaun._

"How did you even know we're here?"

"Oh, that's not difficult. We were here in Zaun a few hours ago, but we didn't expect your arrival. Until one of your comrades came to us—and stabbed you in the back. His name is David, and he's a Noxian spy."

Things became nastier and nastier by the second. No wonder David was quite hostile to him, but he never expected him to be another mole of Demacia. He felt pity for Jarvan for not realizing this at all.

Jayce stepped forward and punched Twisted fate right in the face.

"You punk! DO YOU KNOW YOU OWE ME A WHOLE BANK ACCOUNT, TWISTED FATE? Don't pretend that you know nothing about it!"

Twisted fate was punched directly in the teeth and even if Jayce's punch wasn't nearly as hard as Vi's (which he truly feared), his teeth still ached.

"Not really. How do I know that you use stupid electronic bank accounts to store your money? In the end, I can only snatch a few heap of coins away, and I even dropped some of them during my escape!"

"A few heap of coins? That's enough money for a car! I am looking for serious compensation from you. First, you're going back to the Piltover jail, and then—"

"Save your harsh words for later, Jayce. We better leave now, Jarvan might be here any second. You shouted quite loudly just now."

Blitzcrank still held the gypsy tight in its robotic arm, not giving him a chance to escape. Together they left the room and headed towards the elevator.

"Twisted fate, if you dare say a word, I will punch you in your teeth. Let's see how you will talk with a hollow jaw!"

She instantly silenced the gypsy from what he was about to say. If there was something Twisted fate feared the most, it would be a punch from Vi. Vi had been an enemy of Twisted fate for years, and he had seen numerous times when Vi punched someone to the sky—literally. He didn't want to be the next one. As to why Vi gained such beastly gauntlets was out of his imagination.

Twisted fate looked around the hallway. There was no one other than the brutal group of people beside him. Where was Vayne? Where was Jarvan? Or where were the sailors? They can't be still sleeping…right?

He was alone. Could he get out of this?

Only time...no, only Destiny would tell.

* * *

"Sir! What is that robot? And is the robot holding…Twisted fate?"

"Yes. Thanks to you, we brought him to justice. Now we're taking him back to the Piltover government, where he truly belongs."

The receptionist was curious and tried to peek at the gypsy, but luckily Blitzcrank's body blocked her view.

 _But then when I'm in prison, everyone will know who I am. Sigh. Why does life never go as planned?_

They were already out of the hotel and on the dark street, as silent as ever. There was a white vehicle parked in front of the hotel entrance, which Twisted fate recognized—it was what they call a "car", which was a new invention in Piltover. Despite that, they were rather expensive, and so were not owned by ordinary people. But he knew Jayce had pretty decent wealth—until the bank heist.

There was another car parked a few meters behind the vehicle. Twisted fate wondered who it belonged to.

He looked up. The 10-storey hotel stood right behind him, and there was a row of 5-storey buildings opposite the hotel. Other than the hotel, nearby buildings looked pretty old, as if it had stood for decades.

What did he expect? A huge bomb out of nowhere to save him?

"Get in the car, Twisted fate. Don't do anything stupid, or else I will kill you with my hammer." Jayce threatened as Blitzcrank finally let go of the gypsy. He fell to the ground.

Twisted fate shook himself into reality, and convinced himself that there was no hope. Grudgingly he stood up and walked towards the car.

"Look out!" Suddenly Vi shouted loudly and Twisted fate watched her kick Jayce away, just as an arrow flew through the air at a tremendous speed towards where Jayce had stood a second ago. Then she ran towards the other side of the street as her hextech gauntlets glowed with energy. "It's the Night Hunter!"

 _Vayne! So she is here to save me after all._

With Vi distracted and Jayce on the ground, that left only Blitzcrank, which wasn't a major problem.

Twisted fate saw the golden opportunity to escape from this mess.

He quickly drew out a gold card and threw it at the robot as he started to run. As he was a few meters away from Blitzcrank though, he saw Twisted fate escaping and thus ejected his right arm, exactly the same way as in the gypsy's room, in order to grab Twisted fate once again.

But the Card master had predicted this move and right as the robot ejected his arm, he dove to his left and narrowly dodged the linear route of the robotic arm. He smirked as he continued running, putting more distance between them.

"Fugitive escaping. Need to capture Twisted fate." The robot announced and sped up to chase the Card Master.

"Twisted fate escaping? NO! This will not happen again!" Jayce said. He transformed the mercury hammer into a cannon and pointed its head at Twisted fate, preparing to fire an orb of electricity.

A lance flew by and knocked Jayce's cannon away from his hands.

"Who? Who dares to stop me?" Jayce was fuming, not willing to let Twisted fate get away once again after so many failed attempts.

A man wearing golden armor and holding a shield stepped into the street from the hotel lobby.

"Prince Jarvan! So it's you."

"And who are you, gentleman?"

"I am Jayce, the Defender of Piltover. And I'm here to arrest Twisted fate for his crimes!"

"I'm sorry, Jayce, but our interests coincide. Swain is responsible for killing my father, and I need Twisted fate to assist me."

Jayce raised his eyebrows.

"And why do you need a criminal like him to help you? I don't care, Jarvan, what he had done in Demacia does not justify him, and once he steps on this land he is prone to be arrested by us! You have no idea how devastating the bank heist was to us!"

"We can sit down and talk through this, like civilized people. There's no need for violence."

"I don't have time to talk over this, Jarvan! You stand down or I will do it myself!"

Jayce ran to his cannon. Jarvan tried to stop him but he was faster and picked it up, pointed it at the Prince and fired multiple shots. In response, Jarvan held up his shield and blocked the orbs, while he advanced closer and closer to Jayce.

On the far end of the road, Twisted fate was darting madly from Blitzcrank, who was on his trail. The robot was slower in speed, but it had the advantage of never running out of stamina. If the chase went on, Twisted fate would definitely tire out—and then Blitzcrank would be able to get him. Twisted fate knew this, and thus he knew he couldn't hold this for long. He had to teleport away at some point.

A few months ago, Twisted fate escaped from a whole squad of Piltover police. Now he was running away from a Piltover playboy, a mad policewoman who only knew how to punch, and a technologically advanced robot. He wondered why he had such a twisted destiny with Piltover.

This night he had reunited with a familiar feeling during his numerous times of escape. He was no longer in a sleepy state minutes ago, but instead his body was full of adrenaline, in full condition to run and fight, just like what he had done for years. His heart was beating madly, not just because of him panting for breath, but of the excitement.

Nevertheless, he had to plan ahead right now to get out of this alive. So what was his plan?

Twisted fate discovered that he was running towards the port, as the port lobby was only a mere 10 meters away from him. Unlike other ports which were outdoors, the one in Zaun was a building, a ship terminal with a fascinating design.

 _Seems like a good idea. There's a lot of places where I can hide from the robot in the lobby._

But then he saw something in the distance. There was a car on the far side of the straight road, which was driving towards him at a high speed. Who was it that drove at such late times?

Twisted fate drew out his Destiny card, intending to check who the person was in the car.

In his mind, he saw a woman in the driver's seat, wearing a purple hat, holding a rifle outside the car window—

 _Wait. She's pointing the rifle at me! And she is…_

Caitlyn, the sheriff of Piltover, was in the car and ready to shoot him.

Twisted fate immediately threw a card right under him, engulfing himself with smoke. Afterwards, he threw a blue card at the car and waited in the smoke, watching as the car abruptly flipped backwards into the air and landed upside down with a loud crash, before dashing out of the smoke and pushing open the glass door of the port, throwing another card at a security guard standing near the door, knocking his gun out of his hands.

Outside the building, there was movement in the flipped car.

"Damn. I forgot I'm not the only person utilizing range here." Caitlyn told herself as she clambered out of the heavily damaged vehicle. She saw Blitzcrank enter the lobby, and followed while holding her rifle.

Twisted fate's footsteps could be heard easily in the huge lobby, as it was the only source of noise. Strangely, there weren't any other guards in the vicinity. Only terrified night-shift workers remained, but they could do nothing other than watching him run.

Twisted fate saw a lift entrance at a wall far away. If he got into the lift, he could channel the teleportation without being interrupted.

He arrived in front of the lift when suddenly the lift door opened. Inside stood two men who wielded guns. In an instant Twisted fate drew out and threw two cards which knocked their weapons away before they could fire.

"Get out of the lift now, or you die!" He shouted, pointing another card at them. With no possible way to counter-attack, the guards had no choice but to oblige. The gypsy then stepped into the lift.

"Faster, faster!" He punched the "close" button multiple times. The robot, now only a few meters away, fired his arm once again in a desperate attempt to lock down Twisted fate, but the door closed before the arm reached into the lift, and it ended up punching metal.

Now temporarily safe, Twisted fate had to come up with a destination to teleport to at once.

 _Where do I teleport? Ah, maybe I can teleport back to Jarvan and help them. I'll probably turn the tides if I turn the 2v2 into a 3v2._

The Card master had no time to think of an alternative. He quickly laid down his cards to channel Gate.

 _Not this time, Caitlyn. And never a time when I'll be handcuffed!_

He smirked as he knew he had evaded his long-time nemesis once again.

At the same time, Blitzcrank had arrived in front of the lift.

"Static field—Activate."

The robot created a huge electric field around him in less than a second. The electricity flowed into the lift, effectively electrocuting the whole lift—including anything in the lift. A second later the robot closed the field, but the electricity voltage was too great and it made the lift too dangerous to touch in a short time.

"What happened here?" Caitlyn finally caught up with them. "Holy crap…."

"The…the man ran inside, and then this robot electrocuted the entire lift!" One of the guards said.

"He's not just a man. He's Twisted fate," the sheriff clarified. "Blitzcrank, force the door open."

"Understood." The robot punched the door, causing it to collapse backwards into the lift. The others poked their heads into the lift.

What was left inside the elevator was a card with a "C" on it.

* * *

"Show yourself, Night Hunter! Stop hiding in the shadows!"

Vi had seen a silver bolt come out of pure air, and pushed Jayce out of its path just in time, or else it would have possibly been fatal. Now she was charging her gauntlets, ready to find the stalker.

Meanwhile, Vayne was holding her crossbow, loaded and pointing it at Vi, but still in her invisibility.

 _Almost killed that man with the bolt. I'd better watch where I aim next time._

She could easily eliminate Vi and Jayce with her lethal silver bolts, but she became aware that killing them wouldn't do any good, and might even worsen Demacia—Piltover relations. It wasn't a wise idea. But Vi wouldn't hesitate to crush them if they did absolutely nothing.

She had to distract her, and hopefully buy Twisted fate time to escape before she gets out of this herself.

In her hand was a gun—but not the typical one. It shoots a grappling hook, allowing her to reach anywhere with a solid surface. It was incredibly handy and flexible and provided great utility during her dangerous missions. It was a gift from her deceased father—but she had no idea how he managed to get one.

Vayne broke her stealth, revealing herself to an enraged Vi.

"I'll get you!" Vi charged at Vayne, but she tumbled away just in time. Vi missed completely and punched thin air instead.

"Come and get me," she challenged before launching the grappling hook onto the roof of a 5-storey building.

Vi growled at the sight of a smirking Vayne (something that Jarvan would gladly pay to see).

"Assault and battery—ready."

It took Vayne a moment to acknowledge that the hextech gauntlets were the ones speaking, as the tone of the voice was completely flat. And the term "assault and battery" seemed to be rather…savage.

Suddenly Vi charged towards her. Vayne pulled herself into the air and up to the roof, expecting her to miss again.

That wasn't the case. Vi's gauntlets dragged herself into the air, on the trail right behind Vayne, as if the Enforcer was magnetically attached to her, something that Vayne had never seen before.

In seconds Vayne "flew" to the roof, 20 meters above the street. She ascended into the air for a brief moment before performing a somersault, then landing on the ground gracefully. The Night hunter turned herself invisible just as Vi appeared from below, still maintaining her speed. She saw the briefly surprised expression on Vi's face before the enforcer abruptly stopped.

Vi looked around in confusion. Where did she go?

Vayne snuck behind Vi, readying a bolt that would pierce through Vi's leg, hopefully preventing her from being aggressive again. But as she fired the bolt, Vi suddenly punched the ground hard, shaking the whole surface, and the resulting shockwave knocked Vayne into the air. Unfortunately, it also broke her invisibility.

Meanwhile, Vi was fast enough to intercept the silver bolt with her gauntlets, and it only pierced into the metal part, thus having no effect on her. She casually pulled the bolt out and threw it away, just as Vayne recovered from the blow.

Now that she had lost the element of surprise, Vayne decided to retreat for the time being. She saw some stairs on the roof that led downwards into the building, and hence she headed for the stairs, with Vi following behind.

The building was an old apartment, so the staircase was narrow, and there was a door on every floor. There were lamps above the doors so it wasn't complete dark, but Vayne still watched her step, not sure of what to expect. The sound of the footsteps of hers and Vi's mingled and echoed around the staircase.

Vayne could run all the way downwards and out of the building, on the run yet again, but she wanted to subdue her as soon as possible in order to help out the others. For this reason, when she reached the second floor, she fired a bolt at the door which immediately gave way. She went into the room.

It was a rectangular room but there was nothing inside except the windows. Apparently, no one lived in this room.

Vayne turned invisible again, waiting for her pursuer to step in.

Vi stepped into the room with her gauntlets charged, just as what she had expected. She first positioned herself away from the enforcer, before launching another bolt. It was strong enough to push Vi backwards and pin her against the wall. Vayne then fired four consecutive bolts quickly.

Vi was now completely pinned against the wall, two on each of her gauntlets, two on each of her feet, and one on her chest. The bolts except for the one on the chest pierced through her armor and were stuck on the wall, which meant that Vi couldn't remove it manually, and if she used brute force the bolts would tear the gear away from her. However, Vayne had carefully aimed and avoided wounding her.

"Don't you dare challenge me," Vayne said.

"Oh yeah? You think this will stop me?" Vi uttered. As she spoke her gauntlets emitted brightening light.

Vayne did not take any chances. She moved forward and instantly knocked Vi out with her fist.

But then Vi's gauntlets detached from her hands completely without warning and went straight for Vayne. The gauntlets struck Vayne's stomach like stones and sent her crashing out of the window before dropping to the floor. The night hunter landed on the wooden eaves and rolled downwards, eventually landing back first on the concrete road on another street, not facing the hotel.

It was a hard fall for Vayne.

* * *

While Vayne was busy distracting Vi, Jarvan had to deal with a hammer-wielding Piltoverian.

Jayce, who noticed his orbs were useless against Jarvan's shield, transformed into hammer stance and smashed the hammer against the shield. Jayce was a strong man, and thus even the muscular Jarvan barely blocked the blow.

Jayce backed off briefly after his attack, but Jarvan took the offensive. He went forward and slammed the shield onto Jayce repeatedly. Jayce defended with his hammer but at the fourth time, his hammer was knocked away, leaving him only with his bare fists.

"If you truly are an honorable man, Jarvan, you will fight a defenseless man without a weapon."

Jarvan first hesitated for a few seconds. Was it a good idea to act on impulse?

His answer was clear—he threw the shield away.

"So be it." The prince answered. He valued honor above anything else.

Jayce yelled a battle cry before going in for a punch. Jarvan parried Jayce's punch with his own fist, then grabbed his hand and hurled his whole body into the air, sending him to the ground a few meters away.

"I thought you must be strong, Mr. Jayce, to challenge the Prince of Demacia in a fist fight!"

"I am strong," he replied. "Just in a different way."

Jayce threw something at Jarvan, and he raised his elbow to block the object. Suddenly he felt an electric shock.

"Aargh!" It was an electric bomb, and Jarvan had made the mistake of detonating it with his armor, which couldn't fully protect him from electricity, but it did successfully mitigate most of its damage, saving him from a potentially deadly electrocution.

The armor was designed to protect from spears, swords, arrows, but the creator must not have expected electricity as a weapon. After all, electricity was recently invented and used only in technological cities like Piltover, and Demacia was yet a nation that would adapt to a changing world.

The prince felt his whole skin was burning, and collapsed to the floor.

"You…you punk…"

"Glad you know that. I lied."

"You dirty fighter."

"I'd need to, or else how can I defeat the great Prince of Demacia?"

"I thought you'll fight like a gentleman."

"I had the same idea when I first met Twisted fate."

Jayce fetched his weapon and fired another orb at Jarvan. This time the explosion didn't hurt him—but instead, his armor was further damaged by the projectile. Newly-formed cracks could be seen on the armor.

The Piltoverian looked away and saw no one in the street, except the two of them.

"Now that you interrupted me, Prince Jarvan, you'd better tell me why you choose to work with that bastard."

Jarvan stared at him. Jayce had a weapon and he didn't, so he couldn't retaliate. He had to wait for his chance.

"Do you know what happened in Demacia?"

"I've heard all of it."

"Twisted fate was of great help to us. With his teleportation abilities, we were able to defeat the rebellion forces. Two days ago we discovered who's behind the murder of my father, and Twisted fate has volunteered to help me look for them."

"Them? Who's the murderer?"

"Noxus is behind this."

"You won't change anything with only the three of you."

"Yes, but we suspect they're up to something, and we're there to investigate."

"And why Twisted fate?"

"He's experienced in this kind of stuff, and he's a pretty powerful mage. Plus he did us a huge favour back in Demacia."

Jayce looked at the night sky during the whole conversation.

"You need to understand, Jarvan, that we have the authority to capture Twisted fate here, and it's not up to you to decide his fate. If Twisted fate is captured, you will be sent back to Demacia, and treat like nothing has happened here. But if he escapes...either you or your accomplices will be trialed."

"Who are you working for?"

Jayce paused for a second.

"The Piltover Police Department. And I should probably lock you up first, in case you try to resist."

"Not by you!"

The captain was a few steps away from Jayce, holding a sword and ready to strike. But Jayce was ultimately faster, and the captain ended up on the ground, screaming in pain by the electrical projectile. Jayce watched, grinning.

"You think a sword can beat a gun, huh. Such an outdated nation. See, Jarvan—"

Jayce was greeted with a swift punch to the side of his skull. He first stood still for a few seconds, before dropping to the ground with a "thump".

Jarvan had seized the brief moment of Jayce being distracted to get up quickly from the ground and deliver a knockout blow. He then diverted his attention to the wounded captain.

 _This Jayce—he dares humiliate our nation. He deserves this._

"Captain, are you all right?"

"My...my chest...is burning...head...doesn't feel right..."

Jarvan took out a potion he had brought along before the fight.

"Drink this health potion, captain." Jarvan poured the red liquid into his mouth.

"Prince Jarvan! I found the driver!"

"What? What driver?"

The other sailor and a stranger were walking out of the hotel towards them.

"Who's the person standing beside you?"

"He's the driver that will take you to the College of Techmaturgy!"

"Oh, really? I thought you won't be here until next morning."

"Well, I came early, an hour ago. My car is right there, actually."

"Ah, that's why. You, take the captain to the ship and leave immediately. And driver, get ready because we're leaving right now. It's too dangerous to stay here. Let me get back up there to pack our stuff."

"How about David? He's still missing. Maybe something happened to him?"

"Try to find David, and do what you must. He shouldn't be gone for this long."

"Yes, sir."

As the Demacians left the scene, a man laid on the street, eyes open, yet didn't move an inch.

* * *

Twisted fate emerged from a spark of light, and he immediately dropped to the ground. His head was dizzy and his muscles were aching.

"That…that electricity…ouch…"

 _All of a sudden, in the midst of the teleportation a large field of electricity entered the lift, and Twisted fate could feel a sharp jolt throughout his whole body._

The gypsy was lucky that he had only experienced a fraction of the whole duration. He was only a second away from death.

Then he remembered that he had intended to teleport right behind Jayce. Once he remembered this he drew out a card and looked around—

It wasn't…It was completely dark around him, except the bright moon in the sky.

 _What? What the hell? How did I end up here? What is this place?_

He drew out a glowing card, which had the same brightness as a typical torch, and reassessed his surroundings.

He was surrounded by a large number of trees. The air was stuffy, and the sound of insects could be heard. Seeing this, he backed a few steps but ended up colliding his back with something hard. He looked back and saw a brown tree bark, very huge in size.

 _This…this isn't the city after all!_

He was right. This was a forest. A dense forest.

The trees were the last thing the gypsy saw before his vision completely faded to black.

* * *

 **Author's note:**

 **This is my first time writing an intense physical fight scene, so if there should be any improvements please leave a comment. Many thanks!**

 **I know Vayne doesn't necessarily have a grappling gun (that's inspired by Batman, duh) but I like adding my own stuff while not altering the character too much. After all, it was Batman that inspired Vayne's creation, right? (At least that's what I've heard and seen)**

 **While I was pondering about how to extend the story, I thought it would be too boring and predictable if it was just a plain adventure. So I added this twist to spice things up. Is it good? Did you predict this?**


	14. Chapter 13

Eight minutes after the fight.

Jarvan sat in his car along with the driver, with two packed bags beside him. The street was exactly the same, except the sound of sirens—a sign that the Zaun police were approaching.

"Driver, what's your name again?"

"Dale."

"Dale. That's a nice name. Anyway, what's that repetitive sound?"

"That is the sound of Zaun police cars!"

"Oh, darn. We'd better leave right now, or else we will be in trouble."

The driver stepped on the pedal and the car spun up to life, ejecting itself forward in a quick burst of speed.

"So what about Vayne? And Twisted fate?" The driver asked. "Where do we go now?"

"Take us to the street with the Zaun statue, because I told Vayne to wait there if we got lost. It should be only five minutes away from here. Twisted fate, however…how about we go find him first. I've seen him run towards the port."

"Yes, sir."

Both of them left the scene just as a police car turned into the street, where Jayce's body still laid.

"You think that man will live? You punched really hard."

"Nah, I haven't even used half of my strength. He'll just be knocked out for a few minutes, but I do hope that they will heal him up. Seriously though, if it wasn't for his aggressiveness, I wouldn't have done that."

"Let's hope that is what will happen. He's too young to die."

There was a street in the city that faced the sea. At the end of the street stood a bronze statue which displayed the symbol of Zaun. This was the meeting venue which Vayne and Jarvan had agreed beforehand in case things didn't go as planned and they separate, before the action. Now Jarvan's car was parked in the street, waiting for her to show up.

But strangely, there was no sign of her. So far, Jarvan and the driver were the only ones in the street, and the whole street was still. The dread feeling of isolation combined with the poor lighting in this particular street plagued his mind all the time. Even the driver noticed Jarvan shaking despite being in a warm environment.

"Is there any problem, sir?"

"Of course no…not. Everything's normal. I'm just a bit anxious of Vayne."

"Me too. If she's done with Vi like you said she should be here right now.'

"I have no doubt Vayne will beat that woman. Even with those huge gauntlets of hers."

"Vi is a tough nut to crack. I've seen her take out a large group of strong men by herself in Piltover. No criminal dared to receive a beating from her because those who did never ended up well. Possibly a huge factor of Piltover's depleting crime rate. But she doesn't stop and think in some situations, especially since she just solely cared about punching criminals and often failed to analyze the situation. If she had the brains like Caitlyn does, Twisted fate would be caught long ago. And speaking of which, do you really think working with him is a good idea?"

The prince groaned. Everyone was asking the same question.

"Well that's because—"

"Prince Jarvan! Is that Vayne? Because there's a shadowy figure in front of us!"

Amazed, Jarvan looked at the front mirror and tried to catch a glimpse of the person. There was a figure in the distance, clearly walking towards them, and holding something in both of its hands.

"Wait a second. Vayne is supposed to carry a large crossbow. But the person in front of us is holding something else—"

"Sir, do you suggest that—"

"The person is not Vayne!"

 _Knock, knock._

Someone was knocking Jarvan's window. The prince instantly shifted his attention towards the person—the man—who was standing right outside. He was the one who had knocked the window.

"How did he get here so quickly? He's only in front of us just now—"

Jarvan gestured Dale not to speak. He looked closely at the man and noticed something.

He was black in skin colour, which reminded the prince of someone. Someone who had saved a whole hospital in Demacia. The mysterious person was black too. Was he the same person?

Only one way to find out.

Jarvan pulled down the handle, pushed the door open and rushed out, grabbing the man by his lower jaw before he had a chance to react. Or maybe it was because the man just stood there, not retaliating.

Jarvan held the stranger in the air.

"Hey, I don't mean any harm. I understand your fear, but you're too apprehensive."

"Really?"

The person spoke in a rather friendly tone as if he was a close friend. Which made Jarvan even more suspicious. He looked down and saw what he was holding.

Two white guns.

"Why are you holding two guns then?"

"Oh, I forgot that. Sorry. I can give them to you if you want."

Jarvan thought he would attack him after his question. It was a surprising answer. Adding the fact that there was no sign of fear in his sound at all. He remained calm even when being grabbed by the throat as if he assumed Jarvan would not hurt him.

"Hand them over to me," the prince said.

"Sure."

The prince used his other hand to collect one of the guns. He felt safer now that he knew the person in front of him wasn't a hostile one.

"What's your name, young man?"

"My name is Lucian. I'm a Demacian, actually."

"Hmph. Lucian. So why are you here at this hour?"

"Because I know why you are here."

Jarvan raised his eyebrows.

"Interesting. And that is?"

"You're looking for Vayne."

Jarvan couldn't believe his ears. How did he know what his intentions are? His body twitched for a second before he grabbed Lucian's jaw even tighter.

"How…how did you know that?"

"Well, I even know where she is. At this very second."

Jarvan didn't know how to react. How could a random person appear in front of him and claim he knew where Vayne is?

"You better think over what you've said and what you're going to say because I'm very sure you're bluffing."

"On the contrary, Prince Jarvan. I can bet my life that Vayne will never reach here, no matter how long you wait. This is a gamble not even Twisted fate can win."

 _What has this man done to Vayne?_

"Lucian, this is not a joke. Tell me right now how you knew about all of this."

"I'm afraid we have no time, Prince Jarvan. Vayne is badly hurt during her duel with officer Vi and she needs help right now. She's in a bad condition, and I think you have health potions, right? You need to get there right now."

"And what makes you think I will trust you?"

"I wished I had time to explain all of this to you, my Highness, but now we need to save Vayne first. I know where she is, and I made sure she is out of harm's way before I came here and look for you. You need to trust me, Prince Jarvan. Waiting here won't do any good."

Jarvan growled. But Lucian was right—Vayne hadn't arrived for a long time and something must have happened to her. If Vayne was hurt and in somewhere else, how could he help her while staying here?

Grudgingly he asked,"Tell me her location."

* * *

"Cupcake, you're here. My head hurts…."

"Vi, stay on your bed. Don't force yourself. I've heard your head took a big hit."

The enforcer gazed at the ceiling while lying on her hospital bed. She was situated in a patient room with no one except her and Caitlyn. Her fight with Vayne in the apartment had woken a few of the residents up, so they called the police to rescue Vi. She was in a coma until now, when Caitlyn had just arrived at her room.

"Yeah, thanks to that Night Hunter. Anyway, did you get that retarded gypsy?"

"Sadly, no. He got away at the last second, again. He's just too slippery."

Vi was silent. Caitlyn feared that her actions would be rather unpredictable. The two of them just stared at each other in awkward silence.

"We'll talk about this later. Right now…...ouch."

"Get some rest, Vi."

As Vi closed her eyes, Caitlyn put on her thinking face.

 _Why are Jarvan and Vayne involved with Twisted fate? Why are they together and in Zaun? That's very strange and unusual of them. And where are they now?_

Caitlyn searched for an answer in her logical mind, but to no avail. After a while, she decided to put these questions aside as she stood up and headed towards Jayce's room.

* * *

"So where is Vayne?"

"I've moved her to…a public toilet."

"A PUBLIC TOILET? WHAT THE HELL?"

"I know it's not exactly the best place, but I couldn't think of others when I tried to rescue her. The stakes are high and it's better to hide her quickly before the police come. Plus I think the people here are civilized enough to not enter occupied toilet stalls. She's secure."

"You carried her? Alone?"

Lucian nodded.

"She's heavy though and I can't carry her all the way here, so l left her at the toilet and came here to inform you, so you can reach her instead."

"How far is it?"

"Not very far from the port. I'll lead you there, don't worry."

"Why did you decide to save her? You could have just left that to the police."

"That's because…hmph…you see, I made a promise with her to keep things secret, so it wouldn't be nice of me to disclose the reason."

This made Jarvan even more confused. What secret would they share such that even he couldn't know of?

"How did you know where to look for me?"

"Well, Vayne told me where you were supposed to meet with her, so I get the location."

"You walked all the way here?"

"No. I came with the grappling gun, lent by Vayne."

"What?"

 _Unbelievable! Why did Vayne borrow her gun to him? What's so special about him?_

"Who are you?"

Lucian stared at Jarvan with disbelief. Judging by his face, the purifier was wondering how to answer the question.

"You really want me to tell you the truth?" Lucian asked.

"What you had told me are all lies?"

"No, I mean…my identity. It's going to be a surprise for you."

That sparkled Jarvan's curiosity.

"Go on. I'm delighted to hear what you're so secretive about."

"Well then."

He took a deep breath.

"I am Vayne's partner."

Jarvan thought he was joking.

"What did you say?"

"I—am—Vayne's—partner."

Jarvan dropped his jaw.

"You? But Vayne works alone!"

"That's what appears on the surface. We've been partners for quite some time now. Very few people actually know who I am, not to mention that I had a relationship with Vayne."

"But…but…you…"

"It's pretty shocking for you, I understand. Don't worry, you'll get over it. I think we've arrived at the spot, though, so we'll talk about this later. Please remember to bring your health potions, my Highness. And please don't tell Vayne about what I've just said. She's very secretive about this."

They arrived at another street, as quiet and deserted as the one in front of the hotel. But the sound of a continuous long wailing scream pierced the stillness of the night.

"I guess the police are on the other street," said Dale.

"They won't be here. They'll be investigating near the hotel, but we're three streets away from there, so I presume we're safe." Lucian assured. "The toilet's right there."

There was a small building with two doors with signs on it, one written "men" and one written "women".

"Don't worry, Prince Jarvan. I left Vayne in the men's restroom." He opened the door towards the men's toilet. "Shall we?"

The restroom was rather clean, large and cool, with bright lights. There was a row of sinks and toilet stalls.

"She's in…this one. Couldn't be wrong."

Lucian opened the stall door, prompting Jarvan to peek inside. A familiar woman sat on the floor and leant against the side, true to Lucian's words. Her iconic crossbow and quiver, filled with silver bolts, laid beside her.

"Vayne! Are you alright?" Jarvan lowered down and shook her.

No reply.

"Tell me…she's not dead, right?" He muttered fearfully.

"Impossible." Lucian touched her chest. "You can feel her heart still beating."

Jarvan gave a sigh of relief. The prince poured the red liquid into her mouth, watching her pale face in horror.

"Shall we take her to the car?"

"Right now. Lucian, help me carry her. Dale, get back to the car and start it."

Jarvan held Vayne's back while Lucian held her legs. Together they lifted the Night hunter out of the restroom and back to the car. A few moments later, the group left, leaving no trace of their arrival.

"What happened to Vayne back there, Lucian?"

"I didn't witness the whole event, but when I got there I saw her lying on the ground with no movement. I ran over to her and shook her, and she was still conscious. She told me her spine was injured and needed your health potions to save her. That's why she told me your location. I guessed she fainted after that for some reason, but she showed no sign of injury on the outside."

"That's worse! Internal injuries are more potentially deadly and fatal! And I remember that health potions cure anywhere of your body but the bones! If her spine was damaged, we couldn't help her!"

"I do know an old friend of mine who knows magical spells that cure these. It's not very far from the city. Shall we head there?"

Normally Jarvan would have refused the offer, but knowing that he was, unexpectedly, Vayne's partner, and he was the one who saved Vayne, he had no choice but to accept.

"Give Dale the directions then, Lucian."

"Many thanks, my Highness."

"Just call me Jarvan. Forget about that formal name."

"Understood."

Jarvan stifled a yawn. It was near morning, and he barely had any sleep. He couldn't sleep now though—his sense of security urged him not to. Then he remembered someone.

Twisted fate.

Where was he? Jarvan wasn't sure. He saw Twisted fate run towards the port with the robot chasing, and now he had disappeared. Where did he go? If he escaped though, he could definitely find a way back to them—after all, he had a spell that can take him anywhere.

But what if he didn't?

 _Not going to happen,_ he thought. _He'll find his way out. I shouldn't be worrying about him._

* * *

Elsewhere.

"Took me a long time to find you, David."

"Well, things didn't go exactly as planned. I went to the police station to convince the police that Twisted fate was in the hotel, but then I coincidentally saw Vi and Jayce in the station, and I thought that they would be more motivated and armed to do this kind of stuff. Anyway, have you disposed of the captain?"

"Of course! He almost died to Jayce's electricity orb, and he kept on moaning in pain, so I helped him end his suffering. Away from Jarvan's sight, of course."

"Nice. Did you steal anything from the Prince?"

"I wanted to, but there aren't any opportunities for me to do that. He always keeps watch of his possessions."

"Never mind. Poor Jarvan though. He never expected someone as trustworthy as you to be a Noxian spy as well. Same with the captain."

"What is our plan now, David? We can't follow them anymore."

"Let's head back to Noxus and tell General Swain that he will get some serious company soon."

"Sure. I wonder what we are going to set up for the Demacians. They'll meet their end soon!"

The two sailors laughed madly, revealing their hidden Noxian personality despite appearing Demacian.

Turned out Noxus's corruption in Demacia ran deeper than many had imagined.

* * *

"Ugh…where am I?"

Twisted fate saw a large patch of green at first glance. He felt fuzzy at first and his mind was a mess. He blinked a few times in an attempt to comprehend his surroundings.

It turned out that the patches of green were the leaves of huge trees, standing proudly around him. The brilliant morning light shone through the leaves and branches hanging in the air. He found himself lying on a forest floor, filled with countless decomposing leaves, branches, bark and stems. The scent of fresh forest air reinvigorated him, as he gradually recalled why he ended up in a forest in the first place.

 _The electricity must have interfered with my link to the Dimension of Teleportation. That might have caused a fault in the teleportation and I'm sent to the wrong location instead. Damn that Blitzcrank._

Twisted fate checked his own body. He felt absolutely refreshed, feeling that he was in a perfect condition.

 _Strange. I thought I was electrocuted pretty badly. How did I end up not hurt at all? I even fainted right after I teleported here._

Which made him wonder how long he had been in the coma. _Hopefully, I haven't fainted for more than a day._

Still, he was somewhat puzzled by his body condition. Perhaps someone saved him? Twisted fate thanked whoever had saved him in his heart.

He wondered what was happening back there in Zaun. Did Vayne and Jarvan get away with that? Were they worrying about him?

The card master checked his pocket. Luckily, his cards remained inside.

 _I wonder who this guy is, kind enough to save a criminal like me. Ah, by the way, I should check where I actually am though. Maybe there are some landmarks here._

Twisted fate drew out his Card of Destiny and channeled. However, he received no image from the spell.

 _Oh wait. My spell doesn't work without a person of significant living creature nearby._

He didn't dare teleport blindly, as he wasn't sure what or who was around him. Thus, he decided to wander around and hopefully find some clues.

 _Hope that friendly guy will be around._

* * *

 **Author's note:**

 **Finally introduced the "black man" into the story. It's also reasonable that he is Vayne's partner; after all, both of them hunt monsters.**


	15. Chapter 14

"See that house there, Jarvan? That's the house where my friend lives in."

No sooner did the sun barely rise up from the horizon than the car reached a wooden house. The dark blue sky was slowly overcome by bright streaks of orange.

The group was currently on the outskirts of Zaun, an hour away from the city, on a very long highway towards the west which would eventually lead to the College of Techmaturgy. The sea was only a few miles away from them. Surrounding the highway was a seemingly endless grassland with masses of vegetation. Occasionally lone trees stood alongside the highway, with leaves or without leaves.

They had already travelled for more than an hour, and Jarvan was trying his best to prevent himself from dozing. In his infinite boredom, the sunrise outside the window proved to be captivating and successfully caught his attention. He kept staring at the sight until Lucian's words awoke him from his trance.

"Finally! We've arrived, after such a long ride!"

There was a 2-storey wooden house not far away, with a steep roof. It adopted the more classical design, like the ones in Demacia. It was simple-looking yet beautiful.

Jarvan had been too tired to talk in the car a while ago. Now that they were almost about to reach the house, he decided to ask his questions.

"What's the name of your friend, Lucian?"

"Gibson, if I remember correctly. Haven't seen him for some time."

"What does he do?"

"He was formerly one of the most prominent healers in Valoran, and he specializes in healing magic. He invented many potion recipes and can literally cure anything. Around twenty years ago, when your father suffered from a magical curse that would have killed him in days, it was Gibson who had cured him. I'm sure he can heal Vayne up with no difficulty."

Dale turned the car to the right, out of the main highway and to a bumpy rock path towards the house, where another car was parked nearby the door.

"How did you know him?"

"We were childhood friends, and we knew each other well. I've still kept contact with him since then, but lately, I was busy, so yeah, didn't visit him as much as before."

"You sure he will be awake this early?"

"He's awake before the sun does. Every time."

Jarvan looked at Vayne, who sat beside him, apparently still unconscious. He was originally quite worried, but after learning that someone was capable of healing her, he felt a lot better. The car then halted to a stop.

"We'll get off here."

Jarvan opened the car door and climbed out from the vehicle. The first thing he felt was the sudden coldness, drastically different from the warm temperature in the car. His armor helped protect him from the cold, but his exposed face was met with a cool breeze.

"Wow, it's so cold here!" Dale exclaimed, having just left the warmth of the car.

"That's the average morning temperature here in the outskirts," said Lucian. "Don't worry though, it'll get less cold as the day goes on. Jarvan, mind if you help me move Vayne's body out of the car?"

"Yes, sure. Actually, I can manage to carry her towards the house myself."

"If you say so." Lucian then headed towards the house. Just then, the door opened. A man appeared out of the door in a slow pace, then gazed at them.

"Who are you people that—oh, Lucian! My old friend!"

"Gibson! You look fine as always!"

"Haven't seen you for a long time. A lot of things have happened when you weren't here in the city!"

"Let's talk about this later, my friend. I came here mainly because I need your help. My partner is hurt severely at her spine, and she needs help as soon as possible."

"Your partner? You mean the Night Hunter from Demacia?"

"Yep."

"Oh, great! I've always wanted to see her true face—anyways do come in first. I'll fix her up immediately. And you must be…Prince Jarvan! I've seen your face in the newspapers. And I've heard that you saved Demacia from a potentially devastating crisis!"

Jarvan was holding Vayne in his arms in the distance.

"Well, thanks. I've heard from Lucian that you were a very talented healer in Piltover."

"Nah, it's just that I'm passionate about my job. The more effort you put in something, the more you get out of it. Let's talk more about this later, though. We have something more important to attend to."

"By the way, the person behind me is Dale. He's our driver."

Inside the wooden house was an ordinary living room. Other than the normal stuff, there was a bookcase below the grandfather's clock, filled with books thicker than Jarvan had seen. Gibson was standing in front of the bookcase, searching for a book.

"What are these books?"

"Oh, most of these are written by myself, where I put down my work so I can use as a reference when the situation calls for it. There are some extraordinary cases written down inside too, that I'd like to remember for the rest of my life. I'm a crazy book addict, and Lucian knows it, doesn't he?"

"Shall I put her on the couch?"

"Yes, sure. That will be most convenient." Gibson was wearing a simple white T-shirt and trousers. He looked old, for his hair was winter-white and had a wrinkled face, yet his posture, his walking pace, his voice, all were distinct from an old man's; more similar to a healthy and strong male.

"How old are you?"

"Seventy-six."

"You use healing magic on yourself, to extend your lifespan?"

"I do. But you can only stay young physically. Your brain ages regardless of what spell you use. Immortality, in my opinion, will never be achieved by us humans. Now sit down, Prince Jarvan, on the table. Watch some spectacular healing magic created by good-ol Soraka herself!"

 _Soraka. Hmph. I've heard that name somewhere in Demacia, in the library I guess. About her being a demi-god or something like that. I don't exactly remember the details._

Gibson drew a large book and flipped over a few pages, his eyes skimming the walls of text on the book.

"I'll get you the tea later. Now I need to save her first," he said as he moved a chair and sat right beside the couch, placing the book beneath the chair. "What's her injury, Lucian?"

"I only know that her spine is broken. I'm not sure if that's the only injury though."

"Don't worry. I'll do the checking myself."

Jarvan and Dale moved their chairs nearby the couch, curious of what he would do to her. Lucian just stood and watched.

"Are you sure you trust me to do this?"

Gibson's blue, sparkling eyes stared right into Jarvan's. His smile suggested he was excited about what he was going to do next.

"Yes. Go on."

"Very well then." Gibson placed his right hand on Vayne's back and closed his eyes. Jarvan watched as the healer did…absolutely nothing. He just remained there, not moving at all, as if he was in a frozen state. There was a brief moment of dead silence.

"What is he supposed to do?" asked the prince. "No way can he just stand there and do the work."

"Problem is," Lucian cheekily replied. "He does."

"I can feel," Gibson suddenly spoke, "that she has way more problems than a broken spine."

"And what is it?"

"She does not only have a broken spine. She has a serious brain injury and bone fractures. My bet is if she wakes up like this, she will never be able to walk again!"

"Really?" Jarvan did not expect her situation to be so dire. On the other hand, he had no idea how Gibson managed to find all of that out just by pressing his hand against her back.

"Don't worry. I know how to fix her." Gibson pulled down his sleeves and cracked his knuckles. He starting mumbling a few words, or at least that was what Jarvan had thought. He placed his hand on her back once again, this time along with the other.

Then, suddenly, both of Gibson's arms glowed in bright yellow colour, revealing the veins in his arms. The coloured substance seemed to be moving downwards, transferring from his arm to Vayne's body. Though there wasn't any observable change of Vayne because of her clothes.

Jarvan, at that moment, was so dumbfounded he could be knocked down with a feather.

"Gibson, can you explain what that yellow light is on your arm?"

Gibson didn't reply. He was deep in his own trance.

"I'll do the explaining for him. He is channeling his healing spell, so he cannot be distracted. His arms look yellow, right? That's a form of ancient magic. It reverts the person to his or her original state, that is, her state before she was injured. By granting her body the magic, any of her wounds—including her brain injury—will be healed to full condition. This will take some time though, depending on her injuries. Maybe we should just wait for him until he completes his channel."

"Ah." After Lucian's explanation, it became more clear to Jarvan of what was going on.

"Perhaps we should sit at the table and relax for a bit. Yesterday night is certainly not that pleasant."

"You're right."

Jarvan gazed at Gibson for a moment before returning to the table along with Lucian.

"I'll walk around outside the house," Dale said.

"Sure. Suit yourself." Jarvan replied.

"So," Jarvan asked after Dale closed the door. "Why exactly were you in Zaun yesterday?"

"Good question. I was in Zaun because…I followed you guys here."

"Wait, what?"

"There is a recent spectral monster sighting in the city involving a series of murders, and there was no sign of stopping. It even worsened by each day, so that's why the streets are literally deserted at night. I travelled back to Demacia to call Vayne in for the issue, but, you know, that rebellion wasn't what I expected in the city. I ended up wandering around, saving as many lives as I can while I searched for Vayne, but, you know, finding the Night Hunter isn't such an easy task. I even saved a whole hospital from an attack. After that, I thought that heading to her house and waiting for her would be a better option if I really wanted to find her."

"Which you did, right? She must have returned home no matter how late it was."

"She did. But there was a problem."

"Really? And what is it?"

"I didn't expect any creatures lurking near Vayne's house."

"Impossible! No monster dares stay in the vicinity of her house!"

"That's what I'd thought at that time. But I was wrong."

"Do you recognize the creature?"

"I couldn't. I never saw the creature directly. That time, I was walking in the forest alone, towards her house. There was that strange feeling in me—that eerie feeling that you were being watched, but when I looked around I saw no one staring at me, just an endless number of trees. I thought I was safe. And then all of a sudden…there was a very weird smell in the air, similar to rotten apples or garlic. I was wondering where that came from when I felt my head start to spin. At that moment I felt very dizzy and wanted to vomit. I collapsed to the ground, and with my remaining conscience I took out my health potions, wanting to cure myself out of this."

"As I drank the healing potions though, a creature revealed itself in front of me. Turned out he was invisible all along! I can't remember exactly his features, but I do remember it's the most enormous rodent I've ever seen in my whole life! It stands as tall as me and holds a crossbow, which he pointed it at me. He said something to me but I can't recall those words right now. Anyway, although I felt rather weak at that time, the health potions helped me regain some strength and I still held my guns. Immediately I fired a bolt of light at the rat. He must not have expected my attack because his body took the shot completely with no attempt from him to dodge or block the shot. The laser ignited his chest and he screamed like a bat. What an ear-piercing sound! Then I fired a torrent of lasers at him, trying to kill him in one last blow. He screamed again as I ignited his skin. The very sight of the giant rat in flames is terrifying and disgusting! I saw the rat throw a cask at me before he scurried away. I tried to chase, but right after the cask crashed to the ground I breathed in even more of that strange smell. It struck me that it must be a poisonous gas that I'm breathing in, so I gave up and instead tried to save myself instead."

"I ran into the forest, leaving the infected area and possibly the rat. The presence of that very rodent still chills me to the core. After a hundred meters, I guess, I stopped. I calmed myself down and took a deep breath. Finally, it was the fresh air that I longed for, away from that toxic, gross smell and that horrific rat!"

"I was temporarily safe. However, I fear that the poison wouldn't be worn off so easily and it might worsen, since my skin appeared to be greenish in colour. I had a constant urge to vomit, and I'm afraid that the rat might strike again, so I hurried to Vayne's house, which was luckily not that far away. A few hours later she returned home and yeah, found me lying in front of her doorstep with spatters of…...you know what. I'm not going to describe it in detail."

"Thankfully, she managed to identify the poison type and brewed a cure for me before my body got worse. Sometimes I wonder how many times she had saved me from danger. Nevertheless, she helped me to the bed and I slept. But diarrhea plagued me the next day—that was the nastiest experience I had caused by poison. I guess that the after-effects of the poison had run too deep into my body. I feel that my stomach would burst any second and went to the bathroom non-stop, and can't go anywhere! I ended up staying in her house for the whole day."

"Oh. Were you there when I and Twisted fate came to visit her?"

"I was. Just that I kept myself hidden."

"I never suspected that someone else would be in her house."

"After you guys left, she briefed me about what you've discussed and that she would travel to the College of Techmaturgy in Zaun along with you and Twisted fate to investigate the Demon's portal. I wanted to come, but I fear my body couldn't cope with me during the journey. So I told her that I'll reach the College myself, albeit later. She agreed."

"The next morning I felt absolutely better than ever. Everything, including my skin, became normal. I did a blood test and confirmed there was no more poison in my body, so I booked a ship heading towards Zaun. There was a huge storm when I got there, so we waited nearby until the storm calmed. I arrived at the port at night."

"Ah, that's why. How did you find Vayne then?"

"Well, I stayed overnight in a hotel near the port—"

"Wait, there's only one hotel near the port. That means you've stayed in the same hotel as we did!"

"Really? I didn't know that! I didn't expect you guys to be in the city at that time. I thought you already went to the College!"

"We didn't. Dale's car hadn't arrived, so all we could do was wait."

"I remember hearing someone shouting outside the window in the middle of the night, which woke me from my sleep. You know something's wrong when the silence is broken on such a quiet street, so I got off the bed and checked what was happening. I could see you fighting with Jayce, and Vayne launching herself onto the top of a building with Vi giving chase. I instantly got myself equipped and took the elevator to the lobby. I wanted to aid you first, but then I saw Jayce lying on the ground with you guys cornering him, so I assumed you were safe and ran towards the building where Vayne had gotten herself into."

"I should have seen you if you came out from the main entrance."

"Unfortunately, Jarvan, I came out from the side exit instead. It's farther away from your spot, and closer to the alley where I can directly access to the building, which was an apartment. I rushed my way up the stairs. When I reached the second floor though, I saw a door lying horizontally on the floor and a path to a dark room. I stepped in and saw Vi and her Hextech suit pinned against the wall by a few very familiar silver bolts. I immediately realized Vayne must be somewhere nearby, but what I could only find in the room was her crossbow. Apparently, Vi was in a coma, so I couldn't interrogate her. I picked the crossbow up and searched around. I saw a broken glass window with a man-sized hole, and I thought it might be where Vayne had gone. I looked out of the window, around the street, but there wasn't anyone. It wasn't until I looked down did I notice her body lying on the road. You know what my mind came up upon seeing that! I thought she was dead! With a fearful heart, I landed on the eaves, slid down and landed on the ground safely. Thank goodness she was still breathing! But I knew I had to get her out of the place before the police come because she had taken down the Piltover Enforcer herself. The most logical place to hide her quickly without raising suspicion—was a public toilet across the street. Then I came and found you and…that's what happened back there."

"Bravo, Lucian. That was an entertaining story of yours."

"Other than that, Jarvan. You mentioned that there was another person working with Noxus?"

"That's according to the High General's words. He might be lying, but just in case we should keep that in mind."

"Noxus. It's always them, right? They never seem to want to solve our century-old dispute by peaceful means. They're always up to something. And now they're planning to rule the entire Valoran!"

"When I become king, I surely will work on that. But my father wasn't really one who wanted a war. In fact, he refrained from being aggressive towards Noxus."

"I'll get the tea, Jarvan. I'm starting to get thirsty here."

"Sure."

In the meantime, Jarvan continued to watch the healer perform the spell on Vayne.

* * *

It was noon by the time Vayne finally became conscious. Gibson invited them for lunch before they set off for the college. It was a fine meal—the countryside food was vastly different from those they ate in Demacia, and the quality of the lamb was remarkable—after all, Gibson owned a herd of sheep. Perhaps the person who enjoyed the meal most was Vayne, probably because she wouldn't have to eat Jarvan's bread for lunch.

Back in the car, Jarvan, bored, closed his eyes and recalled some remarkable moments in the house.

" _Prince Jarvan, would you mind telling me how your father died?" Gibson asked while munching on his lamb steak._

" _He was claimed to die from a heart attack. I no longer believe in that though, after the evidence Vayne had shown me. He was killed by dark magic."_

" _No sword marks? Then it must not be an assassin's work. Those famous Noxian assassins are ruled out then. Probably a mage's work?"_

" _Might be, but I'm sure the palace was guarded. Unless…"_

" _The mage bypassed the guards completely. Or the guards were compromised themselves." Lucian firmly stated. "The latter seems more plausible though."_

" _Dammit. No one can be trusted in Demacia at this state. And I thought Demacia was the safest place in Valoran when I was young. Now we're not even sure if all Noxian spies are eliminated. These Noxians—Swain—they will pay!"_

 _He slammed his fist on the table._

" _We will, Jarvan. It will be infinitely better if we destroy Noxus as a whole someday." Vayne said. "Your father preferred peace but to me, Noxus' very existence is a huge threat to peace. If we don't act first, they will eventually wage a war against all of us. They will never take peace as an option."_

Jarvan could still feel the rage in his heart, despite having already passed two hours. He swore to himself that he will be the one who will obliterate Noxus within his living years.

Another thing he found interesting was Vayne and Lucian's relationship. They didn't do anything significant, but he could feel that they had splendid chemistry. Lucian was amusing and enjoyed conversations, as opposed to Vayne, who usually kept her stone face and preferred doing over talking. Even so, Jarvan thought it would be proper if they had a relationship—the romantic one, to be specific.

" _So, my friend. You think there's a chance those two have a thing?"_

" _You noticed that too. Yep, maybe they do. They have a lot in common after all. Both of them grown up to be hunters, both of them have a similarly tragic past—"_

" _Wait. Lucian had a tragic past?"_

" _You should ask him sometime."_

As much as he wished to witness them do anything intimate, it seemed impossible at the moment. It might take a while for the prince to prove his theory.

And then there was the chilling warning from Gibson.

" _You guys are going to the College by this road, right?" He asked._

" _Yep," replied Dale._

" _Do be on your guard. There's been some paranormal activity around the roads_ _recently on the mountain."_

" _Paranormal?" Jarvan asked. "What do you mean by that?"_

" _There is a mountain on your way to the College. On the mountain is a canyon where the College stands. That's your destination. You have to drive all the way up to the top of the mountain. My friend who studied in the College told me he heard screams on the road at night, while he was driving downhill. He had even seen creatures lurking around on the road. He didn't see them clearly, but it's definitely necessary for you guys to be vigilant if you're really going that route."_

" _But…but…it will take days for us to change routes…." Dale stated, shaking after hearing what Gibson had said._

' _No fear, my friend. We have two professional monster hunters here, right? We will get our way through pretty easily." Jarvan said._

 _The two hunters nodded._

Jarvan was confident in the two hunters' ability. On the other hand, he wasn't sure if he actually was ready to face the potential danger ahead. The idea of mysterious creatures lurking on the roads wasn't an easy one to swallow.

 _Hopefully, I'll live to tell the tale._

* * *

 **Author's note:**

 **This is more of a filler chapter of the story, to be honest. I did tease some possible future events though. Anyway, you might be thinking: where's Twisted fate in all of this? Don't worry, he's not off the radar yet (he's the main character, after all). He's certainly going to appear in the next chapter.**


	16. Chapter 15

Endless number of trees.

That was the Card master's impression of the forest he was in. Since the morning he had ambled around the woodland, looking around for possible clues for his location, yet hours had passed and he was unsuccessful. There simply weren't any defining features of the forest. Whether it was the Kumungu jungle, the Plague jungles, or any other lesser-known jungle, he had no idea. Of course, he wouldn't expect to see a road direction sign out of nowhere, pointing at the direction towards the College of Techmaturgy, but other than the seemingly endless number of trees there wasn't anything special or new. Every hundred meters he walked, the surroundings remained roughly the same. Yes, there may be butterflies and small animals. But no, not a person to be seen. And the sheer height of the trees basically blocked anything other than the blue sky, which gave no more information other than the time of day.

The long walk had made him dull. Not sleepy, but his eyes only faced towards his front and he more or less ignored his surroundings.

Twisted fate had channeled Destiny for various times. But every time he did there was no response, further proving that there was no one in the vicinity.

The gypsy was still pondering of his physical condition. Although he never checked his own body before blacking out, he was sure that he must have at least some sort of injury against such a devastating electric shock, yet he was currently in good shape. He presumed that it had to be someone who did this, but if there was then the mysterious person was out of his sight.

For the last few hours, all he could see was the forest, filled with large trees, some rotten. The branches stretched out and blocked the sky like bone fingers, constantly twisting and tangling together. The floor consisted of brownish soil and masses of rotten leaves on the surface. Once in a while, he spotted fallen trees on the floor and had to prevent himself from tripping over. There were earthly smells and the occasional animal scent nearby, indicating that the forest wasn't short of animals. Indeed, as the gypsy shuffled through the detritus, he could see yellow birds standing on top of the branches, chanting their morning song. He could hear insects humming. Small, cute squirrels chattering and munching on their favorite acorns dropped on the forest floor.,

Twisted fate wondered why everything still looked the same even after he walked for so long. Perhaps he had never walked in a straight line and ended up going around roughly the same area.

Strangely, the walk wasn't so bad at all. The forest is drastically different from the modern life he had for years. Here, he had the rare chance to enjoy himself and to forget any of his troubles, at least for the time being. He felt time pass more slowly. The sound and smell captivated him, refreshed him. The tranquility here could never be felt in the city, and even if he was alone in the forest there was a sense of peace in his heart. Perhaps that was the charm of the forest.

He had been hungry for a while and wanted something to eat. Though he knew that not everything in the forest is edible, especially those colourful and deceiving mushrooms, there must be at least something that is recognizable to him. Berries, for example. Unfortunately, he hadn't seen any of those.

For hours Twisted fate had hoped that something would happen. Something had to. Currently, it was like an endless loop, a cycle, where he walked endlessly in the forest and ended up nowhere but the same place. Sometimes he wondered if all of this was an illusion, that this was, in reality, a mental prison where one could never escape. If it was, then surely he would be trapped in here forever.

Suddenly, he stopped dead in his tracks. The shuffling of leaves was gone. At that very moment, only the sound of insects was in the forest.

Because Twisted fate could hear a faint and distant sound. A very familiar sound. It was unmistakable.

That was water. Flowing water, to be more precise.

 _Water? Water in a forest…it means—_

A river. What else could it be?

This very thought excited him. There wasn't a sign of water since his arrival in the forest. If it truly was a river, then that would mean a source of water—the cure to his current thirst. It might also mean a source of food—fish, for example. And most importantly, all rivers eventually lead to a large body of water, like an ocean, and chances are that there would be civilization in those areas. And civilization was the ultimate key to getting out of this unknown place.

Quickly he sped up and headed towards the source of the sound. To find out that a river was nearby raised his hopes. Now he had a chance to get out of this seemingly endless loop.

Minutes later he reached the river bank. The river wasn't too wide, and on the other side was also a forest with similarly tall trees. The river headed downstream towards the east, as indicated by the sun. It was a raging river, the waves smashing into the rocks in the middle of the stream, creating the sound that he had heard far away in the first place. Sunlight shone directly on the water surface, due to the trees not large enough to block the sunlight. In fact, he could see the blue sky clearly while standing on the river bank.

Twisted fate glanced around. Again, he saw no one except himself. He was literally alone near the river.

 _At least it looks safe here. Nothing's going to threaten my safety, for now._

The gypsy walked among the grassy banks and reached the edge of the river. He knelt down and dipped his hand into the water. It felt…cool, but not too cold. He could withstand the temperature if he swam in the river, though he had no intention of doing so.

Since the water looked fresh, Twisted fate decided that it was drinkable, even though he knew well that it usually wasn't a good idea to directly drink from the river. He cupped his hands and collected a handful of water before drinking all of it in one gulp, preventing it from dripping away.

At first glance, the water looked fresh and crystal clear. Yet when he had a taste of the water, it was a different story. There was a certain taste of…bitterness, a weird smell, definitely not found in typical water. It tasted like chemicals, but he had no idea of what it was. He was bewildered.

 _Impossible. How is water from the river supposed to taste like this? This is not even natural!_

He immediately regretted the decision of drinking the water, fearing that something bad might happen to his body. Who knew if it was actually poisonous? It was certainly unpleasant, and chances were it would be anything but beneficial to him. He considered to find water in somewhere else.

On the other hand, how about food? If he continued his journey, there was no guarantee that there would be food along the way. Although the water quality was weird, there had to be living creatures in the river—such as fish. They were the most reliable food source in the current situation. The question was whether there was actually fish in the river.

But that question was answered by himself in less than five seconds. Because his eyes captured the movement of a silvery fish meters away on the surface of the river, leaping into the air before diving back into the water. He was sure that it was fish, not anything else.

 _So there's fish after all._

But if he really wanted to catch them, then what should he do? "How" is not a problem, for he could throw his card into the water, hopefully killing the fish in the water and fly out of the water along with the fish's body. This way, it would be easy to catch a number of them quickly. As for "where", he could set the spot where he was standing as the fishing point. There seemed to be no difference when it came to positioning. He thought that wherever point he stood in the river, there would be no difference in the number of fish caught.

He saw another fish leap out of the water, exactly in the same place where the first fish had appeared. Turned out that there was a huge log acting as a bridge standing on the two ends of the river, enabling a path for anyone to go from one side to another. And right below the mid-point of the log was where the two fish were spotted. To Twisted fate, it meant that there was more fish below the log. And conducting the fishing while standing on top of the log seemed like a decent idea. The risk of fishing there was low, too.

However, he wondered why a log would be there in the first place. It couldn't just end up there naturally.

When he reached the log he checked it thoroughly. In spite of a few cracks, it looked strong enough to support his weight and not to suddenly fall into the river. Deeming it safe, he climbed on the big chunk of wood, moving step-by-step to the middle while being careful of not slipping down into the furious torrent. The log was only a little more than a meter above the water.

Now that he was here, he observed the river. So far, no fish jumped out of the water again. Only the splashing of water was present. But the Card Master planned to use another way to catch fish—not the ordinary way.

He drew out a stack of blue cards and continued to stare at the water. For minutes nothing happened. No fish or anything else.

 _Do the fish know I'm here? That I'm the one who will hunt them? If that's true, then it will be so much more difficult to get free food._

At once he saw a silver object near the surface of the water not far away. It was difficult to spot, but his eyes were trained to be as sharp as an eagle's. It was crucial to have sensitive eyes in his criminal activities.

Before his brain had time to respond, his hand had already tossed a blue card towards the silvery object. It dove straight into the water, creating a small splash.

He waited for a few seconds, asking himself if he had successfully hit his target.

Another splash came not far away. The body of a fish was flying into the air from the water. The Card Master smirked. With a gesture, the fish flew back to him and he caught it in the air with his hand. He held it in front of him.

The fish had a silvery, smooth skin, with scales and a small fin. Its un-proportional large eyes were on the side of its head. In its body was the blue card which ended its life, slicing through its body.

"Poor thing," he mused. He left it beside him and continued his fishing.

And so using this method, he caught a substantial number of fish, sufficient for him to eat for days. Every time when the fish revealed itself on the surface, he would collect it using his sharp sight and his cards. It wasn't difficult, and he never missed his target. Once he even threw a card blindly into the water and ended up with a fish. The gypsy had never fished like this before, but now he was so proud of himself of inventing such a way.

As Twisted fate drew out another card once again, he checked his rewards. Turned out that he had caught nine fish already with ease.

 _One more fish till ten. Ten fishes are more than enough for me._

There was a problem though—how could he carry so much fish? He couldn't hold the slippery fish just by both of his hands. He looked around and saw huge leaves on the branches of a tree nearby. Perhaps he could use the leaves to hold the fish.

He readied his card and stared intently at the water, expecting another fish, when suddenly he heard a low-pitched roar on his left. The unexpected sound shocked him and he almost lost his balance. He looked to his left.

There was an animal standing on the log. It had fuzzy light brown fur and a black nose. Its relatively small ears laid back, and it has paws with sharp claws. Its dark eyes stared right into Twisted fate's.

It was a brown bear. One that chose to stand like a human rather than on all fours.

Twisted fate stared back at the bear. He had never seen a real bear with his own eyes, but he had heard descriptions of the men in Bilgewater. About how they stood like a human, how they growled and how they devoured men who dared hunt them. They portrayed bears as frightening wild monsters.

And he was facing one currently.

The bear growled again, revealing its razor sharp teeth inside its vicious jaws. In response, Twisted fate drew out his gold card to defend himself.

The gypsy knew why a bear would appear randomly here—he had heard that bears like eating fish very much. So it wasn't surprising when a bear was attracted to the fish he had caught beforehand.

Then he heard another roar at his back. He turned around and saw another bear, this time standing on all fours, a step away from the log. It was then that he realized that both of his escape routes were cut, each by a bear.

He was trapped. And he could feel the threat posed by the bears. They looked hungry, for he noticed that they had rather small stomachs, and a group of fish and a skinny human would surely satisfy their hunger.

What should he do now?

There was actually a third route he could take—he could just simply teleport away, disappearing from the scene before the bears could react. It was the safest option. However, if he chose to do so, he could kiss goodbye to his fish—something which he was reluctant on giving up.

Another choice was to take the obstacles down. He could do it easily with his cards, as they were only ordinary animals, not creatures with built-in magic resist. If he killed both bears, he could leave along with the fish.

The latter seemed to be the better option. After all, as a gambler, he knew risk with reward is always better than no risk with no reward.

Quickly he threw a gold card at the bear behind him, stunning it briefly. Then he unleashed a barrage of cards towards the one in front of him, and though its neck was protected by thick fur, it was no match for the sharp edges of the cards. After a few strikes, its heavy body collapsed onto the log, slipped and fell into the water.

Having dealt with one, he turned to face the other bear. It was no longer stunned and was dashing towards him. He drew out another deck of cards, ready to aim for its throat.

The bear was meters away from him when suddenly a crack was heard. Before he could react the log was torn open and split abruptly into two parts. He saw the wood below him fall into the water, and having lost his ground, he followed suit. His body went straight into the water with a splash.

"Omph!"

He could feel the icy water surrounding him. Unable to breathe, he pushed his arms and legs around, struggling to get to the surface as soon as possible. But he was disoriented, and he wasn't sure if he was going upwards or downwards.

The gypsy pushed harder, and soon he felt his head meet air again. He tried to stay afloat, used his wet hands to wipe away the water from his eyes. He blinked a few times and opened his eyes.

He was currently in the river, dragged by the current towards downstream. The water pushed him forward, and the current was so strong that he could do nothing to resist it. The log appeared farther away from him, not moving half as fast, and their distance widened gradually. Thus, he couldn't use it as support.

Twisted fate had no time to wonder why the log broke open in the first place. He had to get out of the water before it dragged him to somewhere else. He tried to swim, but his efforts were futile as the current was too strong.

He looked forward and saw the hazards lying in front of him. There were stones under the river and part of them were big enough to reveal itself on the surface, forming natural obstacles. If he hit any of those, it would be game over.

And the current was pushing him towards one.

Twisted fate shrieked in horror, but water entered his lungs and he coughed instead.

His hand reached into his pocket and drew out a red card, albeit with some difficulty. Usually, these cards dissolve in water, but this wasn't the case for magically-infused ones. He tried to raise his hand before throwing the card towards the rock. The rock was destroyed upon impact and splattered into debris, clearing the path for the Cardmaster.

 _Whew. That was a close call._

As he thought the temporary threat was eliminated, another rock was spotted just a few meters away.

He drew out another red card and threw it at the rock. As expected, it blasted and broke into pieces, falling into the water.

What wasn't expected was another rock right behind the destroyed one. It was even larger and completely unaffected by the explosion. This one was especially weird-looking and had green mold on the top of it.

Of course, Twisted fate could do nothing to prevent himself from changing course. He tried to draw another card, but by the time he held the card his body had already smashed into the rock.

Before his imminent blackout, he noticed something.

 _Why do I feel like hitting a pillow instead of a hard surface?_

* * *

 _Where am I?_

Twisted fate's eyes shot open. He felt himself lying on solid ground. Above him was a large patch of green. He blinked a few times, and found out that they were leaves of huge trees, standing proudly around him—

 _Wait. This is exactly the same setting when I woke up in the forest in the morning! Could it be…could it be that what I've done for the last few hours were all a hallucination? That nothing had actually happened? That I'm back here once I'm dead? Is this a game or something?_

The gypsy tried to get up with his arms, but there was something in his lungs which irritated him and prompted him to cough fiercely for multiple times. He coughed water out from his mouth.

"Relax, human. You're safe."

The voice was quite odd. He turned around and saw the speaker.

It was a…creature. He presumed it to be a creature because although it was shaped like a human, it appeared to share more common properties with a tree.

It had two legs, two arms, and a face with two orange eyes. But the similarity ends here. There was a green beard made of leaves below his chin. A stretched out tree branch was grown on his head. His legs were unusually long, even longer that his upper body. As Twisted fate looked closer, he realized that his body parts weren't made of flesh. They were made of wood.

The creature was sitting on a rock, his eyes watching a sparkling green glow in front of him.

"What do you mean by 'I'm safe?'"

"You almost drowned, my dear. If it wasn't for Daisy you probably would be trapped in the river, straight downwards to the waterfall, and—you can say goodbye to this world."

Twisted fate eyed the creature with suspicion. Did this creature save him? Or abduct him? Was he the cause of his unfortunate experiences?

"Daisy stood right in the middle of the river, waiting for you to bump into her body. You know, she deliberately softened her body so you don't smash your skull instead!"

Twisted fate remembered hitting the strangely soft rock in the river before he blacked out.

 _Ah. So I must have hit something else instead. No wonder my head remains intact._

But there was a question.

"Why do you know how to speak the common language of ours? We're humans, but you…"

The creature was now looking at him. He stood up, revealing his extraordinary height. The gypsy had no idea that the creature stood more than ten feet tall.

"There are a lot of questions from you, I know. Don't worry, I'll answer them. But first, you need to know my name."

Twisted fate was curious. _A creature who looked and spoke like a man. Now that's interesting._

"Which is?"

"My name is Ivern. The Green father."

* * *

 **Author's note:**

 **A new character into the mix! For those of you who don't know, Ivern is a new champ of the game released not too long ago. He should be an interesting addition to this forest setting.**


	17. Chapter 16

"Ivern. What a name. Interesting."

Twisted fate laid his eyes on the creature, or "Ivern", as he called himself. He was without question a fascinating person.

"It certainly is. And yours?"

The gypsy halted for a moment. Should he tell him his name?

 _Nah, shouldn't be a problem._

"Fate. Twisted fate."

"Hmph. Have I heard that name before? Back when I was a human…"

Twisted fate believed that it would be a better choice to not conceal his identity to the stranger.

"You are a human? But to me, you look like a crossbreed of a human and a tree."

"I _**was**_ a human. As to how I end up like this…that's another story. A long one, indeed. Before I tell you that, though, I'm sure you're hungry, right?"

As Ivern finished, Twisted fate heard a rumble in his stomach. It didn't go unnoticed.

"Guess it's obvious, then. What do you want for lunch?"

The gypsy raised his eyebrows.

"Lunch? What do we have, then?"

"You expect fresh meat from me, right? Well, I know you humans desire meat most from the animals here, but, as the protector of the forest, we should not kill any animals. How about some…plants instead?"

"What?"

Who would have thought that plants could be edible here? He had never eaten a real plant before in his whole lifetime—as far as he could remember.

"Do you mean that literally? That I'm just going to swallow the plant into my stomach?"

"I can show you." Ivern bent down and pulled out a small shrub from a bush nearby the tree. He held it in front of a puzzled Twisted fate. "You eat it. Guaranteed that you will live through this."

"But…but I will surely get a stomachache after this. Right? And it might be poisonous."

"Don't worry, this plant is specifically chosen to be safe for humans. It shouldn't cause any problems."

Twisted fate was still skeptical. He then asked,

"Are you kidding me?"

He immediately regretted saying this. Despite his worries, it was after all the tree-hybrid in front of him that saved him from imminent death, and why would he harm someone he had saved? It wasn't logical.

Ivern looked at him with bewitching eyes.

"Humans. Such skeptical creatures. I remember the day when I was one of them. Don't worry, I'll eat this as an example."

Ivern drew back his hand and tossed the entire plant into his mouth. The gypsy watched as he munched and chewed for quite a while before swallowing. There wasn't a hint of disgust on his face—instead, he seemed to be enjoying it very much.

"See! It even tastes delicious. You can't live on without food, my dear. It's not that easy to look for anything here that is edible, and even if you do, there's a significant chance that it isn't safe to eat. Trust me, you will not regret this decision."

 _Now he's making some sense. But I'd rather eat my fish than anything else here._

"Is the river nearby?"

"Yes."

"I shall go there and get some fish for myself."

Ivern's face gave a hint of sorrow.

"You know I wouldn't allow that, my friend. Every living creature here is my friend, and I will try my best to protect all of them."

Twisted fate thought that the kind-looking tree hybrid wouldn't do anything too drastic to him, would he? However he wasn't ready to upset him, and who knew if Ivern had any abilities yet to be uncovered? It wasn't a gamble he would take, at this time.

But was the plant the only choice of food? He didn't know what they taste like. Nonetheless, they didn't look so bad.

"Let me try some." He finally said.

Ivern smiled as he gently pulled another shrub from the bush and handed it over to him.

"Glad you finally figured that out."

Twisted fate held the plant more closely and examined it. Its stem was slim but long. It had masses of small white flowers on it. He hesitated for a brief moment before eventually tossing it into his mouth—

And had no idea that it was sweet. The taste was distinct and unique, different from other foods. It was bittersweet yet good, like cranberries. It was way better than expected.

Twisted fate munched and chewed, not willing to swallow it too early. It was certainly delectable.

"It is called the 'Beach Plum'. Tasty, right? It sure is. It's one of the better foods here. And if you want, I have more than a handful of berries here. I can give them all to you."

The gypsy totally did not foresee himself enjoying the plant, let alone asking for more. But minutes later he sat on a rock, gobbling down a bunch of plants and numerous blackberries from Ivern. The berries were sweet and sour but acceptable. He just tried to eat as much as he could due to his hunger.

Ivern just sat on his own rock, staring at the green glow in front of him.

"What's that glow in front of you?"

"That's a bunch of fireflies. Have you seen a firefly before?"

"I've heard of them. Never seen them before."

"That's unfortunate. Such a magical sight! Treasure it, my friend, because you will never see this back in your towns!"

As he spoke the gypsy saw the green glow turn into a light show, as hundreds of little blinking lights appeared to be dancing in the air. It was quite the spectacular show.

"Do you know where we are?" Twisted fate finally asked the question that troubled him since he was unexpectedly teleported to this forest.

"Good question. This forest is located in…"

He waited impatiently for an answer. However, Ivern seemed to be rather reluctant in answering it.

"—let me think of the location. Wait."

 _What? Even he doesn't know where he is?_

"—it should be in…"

 _Dude. Just admit that you don't know the answer!_

"I remember!"

 _Whew. And I thought I will be stranded here for decades._

"We're somewhere near the Frejlord!"

 _The Frejlord? Did I teleport this far away? And isn't the Frejlord supposed to be cold?_

"Oh wait, no, it's at least over 200 hundred miles away from here. Probably 300. I forgot."

 _Huh? How is 200 miles supposed to be close? Is he nuts?_

"Sorry, my friend. I accidentally forgot where this jungle belongs in Valoran. I'd say it's outrageous, but this is what a jungle life turns you into, right?"

Twisted fate just sat rooted to the spot, unable to react or move. If even Ivern had no idea where this forest was, then how was he supposed to get out?

"Ivern, how big is this forest?"

"If you start from where you're standing right now, it will take approximately…a little bit more than a day to get out of here."

"Any direction would do?"

"You will surely get out of this forest if you head east continuously, and that's a guarantee. From what I've heard from my animal friends they say there is an impassable barrier of mountains on the west and south. Not sure where you will end up if you head north."

"You said you were a human. So why do you look like something else? A tree, to be more precise?"

"You finally asked that question. Sit well, my friend, because what happened in my past have definitely transformed me into something else."

Twisted fate was about to put a mouthful of berries into his mouth when he saw something small and black on one of the berries. Moving. He narrowed his eyes.

A ladybug was crawling on the very food that he would devour soon.

"Dammit!" He tried to squash the bug with two fingers, but it flew away before Twisted fate successfully landed his strike, disappearing from his sight.

At the same time, Ivern glanced at his palm.

"Oh, poor thing. Don't worry, I'm here to protect you."

The hybrid's orange eyes looked right into his.

"Life is precious, my dear. Even if it's only a little insect. Now, you want to hear my little story?"

Twisted fate nodded. Ivern seemed to be the not-so-easily-angered type.

 _Good for me._

"Ok. So here's how everything started…"

The Card Master listened, or at least, pretended to. Ivern's long speech was mostly boring, prompting him to daydream rather than actually paying attention. Part of him was listening though, and he could sum up the whole thing into a few points:

1\. Ivern was formerly a Frejlordian. (He didn't expect that)

2\. Ivern was formerly nicknamed "Ivern the cruel". (He further didn't expect that)

3\. Ivern tried to overthrow his former masters, the Iceborn.

4\. Ivern travelled to Ionia in search of a source of ancient power, in the form of a massive tree, called the God-Willow.

5\. Ivern destroyed the God-Willow. (That was sad)

6\. Ivern's body, in a sense, transformed from flesh to wood right after the magical tree's death. (That explained why he ended up in this form)

7\. Ivern became a tree and stood still for around a century. (Certainly impressive)

8\. Ivern was able to move afterwards, completely changed himself and became Nature's best friend.

9\. Ivern is actually more than a few centuries old. (Was this even a true fact?)

10\. Ivern had never left this forest ever since. (Explained a lot…)

That was all he remembered from his speech.

"Now that you know my backstory, Fate, you should understand why I forget things so easily. That's why I can't exactly give you the directions. Why did you end up in this forest anyway?"

"Do you know a place called the College of Techmaturgy?"

Ivern gave him a puzzled look.

"Never heard that before."

Twisted fate sighed.

"Don't be pessimistic, my friend. I can bring you to the east, and check how far we are from that er…...cabbage of what? What's that name again?"

"College of Techmaturgy," he impatiently reminded.

"Ah yes. Human terms are rather distant to me. So you wish to go there?"

"Yes, but for some reason I got here instead, and I'm lost here, so I tried to find my way out of this jungle, but half a day have passed and I still hadn't had a single clue. I was walking past the river when I was attacked by two bears and I fell into the water. Then your Daisy was there to save me."

"How exactly did you come here?"

Twisted fate hesitated. He wasn't really keen on revealing his teleportation abilities.

"Because if I recall correctly you lied on a spot since yesterday night and you were bleeding heavily. The birds saw you and contacted me, so I came to you and, with some effort, healed you back up in no time. I thought you would wake up after a while but you slept like a panda. So I carried you to another spot because you were lying in a puddle of blood. I left you there, and the next morning when I came back with some food, you disappeared. Ah yes, that person is you! How can I recognize you only by now?"

"No way."

 _So it was Ivern who saved me yesterday. That's why I woke up completely uninjured. If that's the case, then he would have saved my life…twice?_

Twisted fate had yet to thank the hybrid for saving him from the river. And now he learnt that the reason he narrowly escaped from the Grim Reaper that night was also due to the same person. In this sense, he owed him quite a lot. More than a lot.

No one in his lifetime had ever tried to save him, let alone twice. Except for Vayne, perhaps.

"You should have stayed back there, my friend. Wandering around this forest alone is certainly not a good idea. Anyway, eat your berries. Don't you want me to lead you out of this forest as soon as possible?"

"Oh, yes. Sure. I appreciate that."

"Like I said, my job is to preserve all life. Even humans, which I generally hate, deserve protection. There's no need to thank me, my friend. We shall leave soon."

The gypsy nodded. Things had gone for the better.

* * *

 _Did I just sense a human in this forest?_

 _Couldn't be wrong. Humans have that unique stinky smell of theirs._

 _Wait, is he with Ivern? Impossible! I thought Ivern disliked humans!_

 _But no, my senses cannot fail me. They are together. Where are they going? Towards the east? Why would they do that?_

 _And they have no idea that they will soon step into my newly marked territory. I forgot to tell Bramblefoot about this._

 _Whatever. Time for them to acknowledge my presence._

* * *

Vayne gazed at the sea view in front of him. She was standing on a cliff, facing the sea. Behind her was their car, parked on the highway nearby. The landscape here was completely flat, a seemingly limitless grassland. There was nothing in sight over the horizon.

She glanced at her golden watch, gifted by her father. It was around four o' clock. According to the map, they were roughly a two-hour distance away from a mountain, which they would drive up, and then it would take another ten miles to the College. Jarvan suggested stopping at the foot of the mountain for the night, as the car ran on gasoline and needed to be refilled, which would take some time. Moreover, the roads would eventually connect to a large forest and it wasn't safe to drive on those roads at night. As to Gibson's warning, there was a fair possibility that the creatures spotted originated from the College if the Demon's portal was actually built there. Hell, it might even be already in work, and Noxus might have already started to create their undead army. If that was true, then Runeterra wouldn't be too far away from its destruction. Swain had stated in the letter that it would take two weeks, but what if they accelerated their progress? Always assume the worst—that was her motto.

 _Hopefully, that isn't the truth._

As much as she wanted to get to her destination quickly as possible, it was impossible for her to just walk for the entire distance. Thus, she was restricted by the car, and if the car had to stop, so would she.

"Beautiful view, right?"

Vayne looked back and saw Lucian standing beside her, patting her shoulder.

"You're done with your pissing?"

"Yes. Every man needs a release sometime, right?"

"Did you wash your hands?"

"Oh."

"…"

"Sorry. I think I forgot that step."

Lucian grinned cheekily just as Vayne pushed him away with a hint of disgust on her face.

"You expect me to accept those dirty habits of yours?"

"Sorry. I forgot that you are one of those extreme neat freaks."

"You're the one with the weird habits."

"C'mon, can't take even a little joke?"

"There's plenty of water in the car. I'd rather drink less water than to sit with someone who doesn't clean himself. I wonder when was the last time you took a shower."

"I took one in your house before I left your house. I'm not as bad as you imagine."

"Hurry up. I have no time for nonsense."

"As you wish, madam."

* * *

"Do you see the temple over there?"

"Temple? What temple?"

Twisted fate and Ivern was in a very dense part of the forest. Trees and leaves blocked his sight, and since it was nearly sunset it was getting dark rather quickly. Both of them had to constantly walk through piles of bushes and large plants, shoving them aside.

The gypsy looked further. Indeed, there was a grey structure some distance away, standing amidst the leaves, obviously made of stone.

"The stone building there?"

"Exactly. It's an ancient temple here that has stood for centuries. We don't know what it's called, but it has a lot of history in it. All ancient tribes go there and leave their work behind."

Twisted fate took out a bottle of mana from his pocket.

"That potion—it's from your pocket?"

"Yes."

"You didn't lose it in the river?"

"I zipped my pocket."

"What's 'zipped'?"

"That's...it protects the pocket. Anything in that pocket is kept safe. I've kept my potions inside, so it's the only thing I have for now."

"How many more potions do you have?"

Twisted fate checked his pocket.

"Two more. Including this one."

"Hmph."

Ivern nodded thoughtfully, then contemplated for a while.

"Come with me into the temple. I have something to show you inside."

"What's inside?"

"Something that will definitely interest you."

Twisted fate was doubtful, but he agreed nevertheless.

Judging by its appearance, the entire stone temple was built out of stone bricks, which meant it must be carved out by hand. It wasn't too tall or large in size, and its stone walls were mostly moss-covered. Usually, the temples that Twisted fate had seen before had some sort of symbol on the walls outside, like an animal's head, but this wasn't the case for this particular one. The entrance was in the center in the shape of a rectangle, leading to a dark passage with stairs.

"We'll go in here," Ivern said.

Twisted fate held a glowing gold card with him, brightening the passage with weak golden light. The passage kept leading downwards, and as he trotted down the stairs he took a glance at the walls. This time there were drawings on them, pictures of men and women sitting in a carriage pulled by a horse. Or men and women growing crops. Actually, these were the only two pictures he understood. The others were either too worn down to identify clearly or…either the people were holding something he was unfamiliar with or they did something he didn't understand.

"These drawings? Yeah, that's what the ancient people left behind, all clearly marked here. Do you understand them?"

"Not really."

"So do I. The intelligence of our ancestors is certainly impressive, aren't they? Even I can't explain all of them."

They eventually descended to a hallway, though this one was significantly larger than the one under the warehouse. There was a notable difference—no torches were present. Thus, it would have been absolutely dark if it wasn't for the golden glow. Still, the atmosphere was definitely uneasy and bone-chilling, at least for a cowardly man like Twisted fate.

"Have…have you been here before?"

"Yes. Always, of course. I have to visit my friends here."

"Friends?"

 _What kind of friends would a tree hybrid have? Probably also as weird looking as him._

"Yes. You look afraid, my friend. Scared of the dark?"

"No…...no. I'm..….absolutely…afraid…I mean, not afraid of the dark…"

"Relax, mortal. There's nothing to be ashamed of being afraid here. Many humans who had ventured in this temple never go deeper than here. It certainly takes a lot of courage to meet my friends. Don't worry, I'll make sure you'll be very much safe. That is if you do not provoke them first."

"Um…ok."

 _Shouldn't be too difficult to achieve._

"What's that—AARGH!"

A giant, eight-legged creature was crawling on thin air high up in the ceiling, apparently. It was black in colour and had a very, very hairy body. Its size was four times the size of his palm, which was terrifyingly huge. It took him a while to figure out that it was a spider, that is, a monster spider, standing on an invisible spider web.

Twisted fate instantly jumped backwards and subsequently fell to the ground.

"Fate! Are you all right?"

"No, no, not spiders…"

The gypsy looked at the ground, panting heavily. His whole body was trembling uncontrollably. Ivern patted his back in the hope of comforting him.

"Sorry, my dear. I forgot to introduce my eight-legged friend to you. She won't be a threat to you, don't worry. Do you feel better now?"

"No, please, tell the spider to go away."

"No problem. Boris, can you make way for our human friend here?"

The spider first paused, then crawled into a dark corner of the ceiling, not to be seen again.

"She's gone. Get up, don't be afraid."

Ivern helped an unnerved Twisted fate get up from the floor.

"Sorry. I just…I just have a natural fear of spiders since young. When I see these creatures I usually can keep myself together, but I've never seen a spider of this size."

"I understand. We sure have some creatures with extraordinary sizes here."

"Will we see any more of these later?"

"No. I'll tell them to stay away for the time being. You're in a sensitive state, my friend. Just calm down and you'll be fine."

"I got it."

It had been some time since Twisted fate had seen a real spider, not to mention one who's size was so huge. And he was telling the truth—he had been very afraid of spiders since young, all due to one particular event.

" _Tobias! What's moving in your shirt?"_

 _A middle-aged man and a young kid were in a small wooden house, sitting on the dining table. They looked poor, for their clothes were old and torn. Two bowls of porridge were on the table._

" _What? Oh wait, something is moving in my shirt! I can feel it!"_

 _The little boy looked down and saw that something was under his shirt, moving upwards towards his head._

" _Don't move, Tobias! Don't you move!"_

 _The boy obeyed, intimidated by the man's sudden change of tone._

" _I feel it! Something's on my skin!"_

" _Stay where you are, Tobias. Raise both of your hands!"_

 _The man placed his hands at the edge of his shirt, and in a second he pulled the shirt upwards, revealing the boy's bare chest._

 _Along with an unexpected eight-legged guest the size of his palm, standing right on top of his chest._

 _The boy instantly screamed at the top of his lungs. He leant backwards and landed on the ground along with his chair._

" _Tobias!"_

 _He noticed the spider sink its fangs into his chest, just like a thorn. He felt waves of pain as his man grabbed the spider by his hands and threw it away, then tried to calm the boy down, who was still screaming and kicking madly._

" _Calm down, calm down! I have the cure for this—"_

"Fate! Are you all right?"

Twisted fate looked around. No sign of the spider, or his old home, or his long-gone father. It was a vivid memory which remained in his mind since that incident and had never failed to remind him of why he had feared spiders in the first place.

He put his hand on his chest. The bite mark was still there after many years, and though its size had diminished greatly, it was still a nasty mark of the past that would accompany him for the years to come.

"I'm fine. Just that I remembered something unpleasant in the past."

"Something about spiders?"

"Something about that."

They proceeded into the dark passageway. However, the shock a while ago had already inflicted a notable effect onto the gypsy—he felt himself shaking the whole time, and for some reason the darkness itself seemed to be watching him—that a million pair of eyes were observing him, and yet he could see none of them. He drew out his gold card, ready to throw it at any movement in the darkness.

There were many other paths which led to other directions along the passageway, and the gypsy wasn't sure what was actually lurking inside. He had no intention to find out.

Then Twisted fate noticed a very slight movement on the ceiling. Normally he would be oblivious to it, but not when his eyes were this sensitive, possibly sharper than an eagle's. Without a word Twisted fate threw the card right at the spot.

Ivern watched in horror as the card struck the ceiling.

"What's up there, Twisted fate? Did you kill anything?"

"I…I…"

Before he finished black objects appeared on the ceiling and went straight for both of them.

"NOOO! NOOOOOOOOO!"

Twisted fate lowered down his body and raised his hand, protecting himself from the unknown attackers. By contrast, Ivern stood up, ignoring the attackers as he shouted.

"They aren't monsters! They're just bats!"

Still, Twisted fate waited until the coast was clear before he stood up himself.

"That was a swarm of bats! A gigantic swarm!"

"Yes, they are! But they are vegetarians and do no harm. The only reason they did this was that you scared them with your card on the ceiling! They're very sensitive, you know."

Twisted fate gazed at the spot. The gold card was stuck on the ceiling, and right beside it was a small bat, hanging itself upside-down. It flew away upon being seen.

"You almost got that bat," Ivern said. "You were lucky that it was agile enough to dodge it."

"Or maybe that card had been always supposed to miss," said the Card Master.

Suddenly, there came the sound of footsteps—very heavy footsteps, as the ground shook slightly each time. The sound came further from the dark passage in front of them.

"Who's…who's that?' Twisted fate asked, drawing out another card.

"That's the friend I want you to meet," Ivern replied. "He's coming."

"He?"

A creature emerged from the shadows, into the golden light. Its body was pieced together by rock, and it stood like a human, albeit its body proportions were different. There was a blue circle light glowing in the center of its body, and a brighter blue glow on its head. Actually, its whole body was glowing in blue, though its blue was more similar to the ocean, rather than the light-blue glow from Blitzcrank.

"Let me introduce you to my friend, Fate. His name is Bob, an ancient golem, and enjoys spending his time in these passageways. I don't know why, but he tells me that he likes this place very much. Anyway, he has never seen a human before and is very excited to see you. He wants to shake your hand."

The golem extended its big arm to Twisted fate, just like a human.

"How did he know this?"

"Oh, I sometimes teach my friends of some human habits. This is one of them." Ivern replied.

"Hmph." Twisted fate extended his own and shook hands. Luckily, despite how large the golem's palm was, it chose not to crush Twisted fate's hand.

He quickly became interested in it, forgetting his fears. "Do I sense the presence of mana in his body?"

"Yes. He is fueled by mana, and he can create pure mana by himself. Impressive, isn't it?"

Twisted fate was shocked. The very being standing in front of him could produce mana on its own? If he could bring it back to Demacia, this thing would be sold at..….a very high price. Or even better, why should he sell something this precious to others when he could use it for himself?

 _Infinite mana—wow, that's every mage's dream. Imagine if I can own him! Everyone will be jealous of me, and, hehe._

"Though he and his kind prefer staying in this temple, so they never go out and this is why there are very little people in the world who know about these ancient creatures."

Twisted fate groaned. His dreams were shattered by one single sentence.

"Bob has told me that he wanted to share something with you. Come closer to him."

 _Huh? What does he want?_

Twisted fate was puzzled, but he obliged. He stepped closer to the golem.

"Perfect. Let's see what the golem wants to give to you."

The golem laid his hand on Twisted fate's shoulder. Then the air around his stone hand turned into blue, which drifted into Twisted fate's body. This process continued for a whole minute before the golem drew back his arm and stopped the channel.

"How do you feel now, my friend?"

"I feel…refreshed. And more powerful."

"The golem has granted you an energy force. Now you have the ability to regenerate mana by yourself, and your magical abilities are enhanced. Also, it helps your body move faster as a whole, including your reaction speed. This only lasts for two days though. Ah, and the golem was very glad that you seem to appreciate his gift."

"Fair enough. And yes, please pass my thanks to him."

"Well then, shall we move on?"

* * *

 **Author's note:**

 **So, Twisted fate gets the blue buff. (Game reference, hehe) Anyway, these chapters are mainly for character development. So if you're bored with these chapters, don't worry—they're just the set up for the upcoming fight scene which will occur soon.**


	18. Chapter 17

The sun had set and darkness had once again engulfed the land. The moon was the only source of light in the forest and even then its silvery rays could not penetrate through the dense leaves. The sounds of insects lingered in the night, but other than the sounds of rustling bushes and the howl of the wind it was near silent.

Twisted fate and Ivern sat on a fallen tree bark, surrounded by trees while eating the same berries and plants again which Ivern had collected earlier. The gold glow from Twisted fate's card still existed, brightening up the originally dark place.

"This again?" Twisted fate said, his mouth full of wild red berries.

"You will be able to eat whatever you want when you leave this forest," Ivern answered.

The gypsy groaned. Hopefully, he wouldn't have to stay in this boring, dull place for long.

"So, my friend, what do you do in the human world?"

As he chewed the berries he wondered how to answer the question.

"My job is somewhat special."

"Really? Which is..."

"Gambling."

Ivern became bug-eyed, seemingly fascinated by what he just said.

"Gambling? Looks interesting. But what is gambling?"

"Um..."

No one had ever asked the Card Master what gambling was. Then again not every person had a tree-like appearance.

"It's a complicated matter. Can't explain it to you in a short time."

"Oh. You know who I was before my transformation to become a half-tree?"

"No."

"I was a fierce Frejlordian fighter. An Avarosean. You want to know more about my past?"

 _No. No. Please. Not that long as hell speech again..._

"I got a lot of stories to tell. Let's start with this one, when me and my comrades almost died by falling into a giant hole hidden under the snow!"

Knowing well that Ivern would not easily be interrupted, the gypsy had no choice but to give in and pretend he had heard the whole thing.

Or so he thought, because there came an uneasy feeling within him for no evident reason. A strong, exigent feeling he had since he sat down. It was certainly unsettling, prompting him to observe the dark surroundings around instead of focusing on Ivern's story. Yet so far nothing unusual had been spotted.

"—once I and my friends travelled deep into an unexplored cave—"

Feeling insecure, Twisted fate drew out his Card of Destiny. He channeled the spell and pictured anyone nearby in his mind.

"—there was so much ice in the cave, and it was so slippery that I tripped a few times—"

To his surprise, a magical eye was formed on the identified target. It appeared that a hulking white-skinned creature was sprinting through the forest floor, not making a single noise but moving rather quickly. His whole body was covered with white fur, and he had a blue eye (strangely without eyeballs, just a blue dot), while the other was covered by an eyepatch which replaced his second eye with a yellow glow. Two very long canines extended well past the bottom of his closed jaw. At first glance the face resembled a lion's, but the gypsy had never seen a white lion before, not to mention one who could stand on two legs. It was like a human's body combined with a lion's head.

While its appearance might look somewhat hilarious, what he held in its paws (probably not hands, if it was truly a lion) could not be taken as a joke. In his right hand was a reverse-grip sword, very long and razor-edged—an uncommon weapon. His waist and right arm were covered in stone armor, while he wielded an armband on his left arm, along with two separate blades positioned on the armband.

Twisted fate then became conscious that the white lion was sprinting towards him. He wasn't too far away, and if his speed was constant he would arrive in front of the Card Master in less than 20 seconds. He had no idea who the creature was or its intentions, but someone who held weapons was generally hostile and dangerous. Especially a lion.

"Ivern!"

"—the snow was so deep, we guessed it was more than two meters tall. Blizzards in those times were more than destructive in the past, my friend—"

The tree-hybrid kept on talking as if he was trapped in his own thoughts, oblivious to what was happening around him and speaking to himself of the various memories he had centuries ago.

"Ivern! A white lion is coming! And he can stand on two legs! Is he one of your pets or something?"

"—but you know, the snow covered those deep holes with large openings, and once you step on those spots, you're doomed!"

No use. Ivern either did not hear his words or ignored him entirely.

The lion was only ten meters away. Twisted fate dared not look back, but in his mind he saw the predator slow down and pussyfoot instead, in a hunting posture—ready to pounce at any second.

 _Never mind. I shall save myself._

It was ridiculous that Ivern just sat beside him nonchalantly, not sensing the danger the gypsy had already noticed nearby. He threw the berries and plants he held to the ground and silently drew out a gold card. Any second the lion would strike, and he would respond with a stun card to his face.

The lion then stopped dead in his tracks. He just stared at him, not moving at all.

 _Did he catch sight of my movements? But I'm certain I didn't move my back!_

Twisted fate held his breath, froze and waited. So did the lion. There was heavy tension in the air—if it wasn't for Ivern still speaking of his "extraordinary" adventures in the Frejlord. If Ivern was silent, there might be no sound at all. Twisted fate looked into his mind, carefully observing the predator who looked ready to strike at any moment, if he wasn't careful.

Seconds later, the lion, with a sudden muscular effort, shot his body a few meters into the air with his legs, straight towards the gypsy. At the same time he let out a loud and powerful roar, identical to a lion's. Having anticipated this, he swiftly threw his own card straight towards the lion's face before he dashed out of his landing point.

The predator landed on the piece of bark, his claws and curved sword slashing through the wood, tearing it into smithereens. Ivern instead was knocked aside by the force. Had the Card Master remained there, he would end up like the bark—reduced to small pieces.

But after he landed, the lion remained in place, not moving at all like a statue. Twisted fate knew his stun card had hit and was in effect, but dodging the lion's pounce was necessary.

As Twisted fate readied another card, the stun duration ended and the lion's head turned to face the gypsy. He got to his feet, seemingly enraged (actually the gypsy had never seen a smiling lion) and clenching his weapons. The gold card was stuck on his cheek, which he merely pulled out. He let out another roar, as birds and animals fled from the area in unison.

Now the lion looked very, very aggressive. Twisted fate knew he couldn't keep him at bay for long, for he would just simply tear him to shreds. Hopefully, his cards could pierce through the lion's skin, subduing him before the lion does.

"Rengar! Stop!" It was Ivern's voice obviously. Finally, his trance was broken and he was reacting to the unexpected situation.

 _So this beast's name is Rengar._

Rengar just fixed his sight on the gypsy. He growled.

"Who are you?"

 _He knows the human language? The common language? Since when do lions know when to speak?_

Twisted fate was puzzled, but he had an urgent need to answer the question nonetheless.

"The name's Twisted fate."

"Why are you here? With Ivern?"

"I—"

"He's a human lost in this forest. I met him, and he requested me to lead him out of here." Ivern said, walking towards Rengar.

"Hmph. Stay where you are, Ivern."

Step by step, Rengar approached the gypsy. The only voice present was the lion's footsteps on the forest floor. He eventually stood right in front of him, face to face. Twisted fate dared not move, the sharp sword and claws already intimidating him.

"I noticed you knew I was behind you all along. You didn't even turn around and yet you were already prepared for my attack. How did you know I was here?"

Twisted fate just looked into Rengar's eyes blankly.

"Answer the question!" He ordered, grabbing his head and forcing him to look downwards. Below his chin where the two blades on his left arm.

"I have the ability to detect and reveal any living creature nearby me with magic and observe them in my mind. I didn't need to directly look at you because I had vision of you in my mind," he said very quickly.

"That is definitely...an extraordinary ability. To be able to know who is around you—including invisible ones. I camouflaged myself, and yet you can still see through my disguise. In a world where invisibility thrives, such a remarkable anti-invisible ability—an extraordinary and valuable tool for a predator. If only I was born with this gift. And whatever you just threw at me, it is a useful weapon. To be able to stun someone is a rare trait."

Rengar backed off, freeing a panic-stricken Twisted fate. The lion turned back to face the tree-hybrid.

"Haven't seen you for a while, Ivern."

Both of them shook hands. Things were certainly strange here.

"The two of you stepped into my territory, so I have to come and check on you. Ivern's not a problem, but I do not tolerate humans. However, since you have proved to be able to hold your ground, I shall not kill you, "Wisted fate"—for you earned my respect. Now I have something to ask you."

 _What would a lion ask for?_

"This forest has been a safe haven for all animals, but recently I have spotted a mass of void creatures invading here, killing anything in its path and destroying the forest slowly. At this rate they would take over the forest in less than five days—the whole forest here, just to clarify. I killed some of them, but they are in very large numbers and I'm severely outnumbered."

"The whole forest? Geez, what can we do?" Ivern asked, clearly anxious of the problem.

"I do know who the culprit is. The creature who controlled these armies of voidlings. He is my sworn enemy—Kha-zix!"

Rengar pronounced the last two phrases very loudly, as if he really had a personal grudge against whoever was called "Khazix".

"I have fought him over the years, and we considered each other to be equal. Yet now for some reason, he has evolved his abilities very rapidly, and with the protection of his voidlings, I have serious difficulty in killing him. His worst part is his invisibility—that pesky way of escaping under my very eyes! But if you can truly reveal someone out in the open, I will tear him to shreds with ease once he loses that advantage. And you will be very important during my battle. Will you join me and help me take down that Voidreaver?"

 _So voidlings are here. This means the Portal mustn't be too far away. And this means that…the College—_

"Do you know where is the source of the voidlings?"

"I found the source, Ivern. They all come from a building called the College of Techmaturgy. It's not too far from here, but I can't get in."

 _College of Techmaturgy? Nearby? This means...wait, I remember in the map that there is a large forest near the College…I might be in that very forest…yes, I must be in there. Oh my god! I've been near the College for the whole time! And I have no idea at the very least!_

Twisted fate's eyes brightened.

"I will help you, Rengar, if you promise me one thing."

Rengar turned to face him.

"Which is?"

"Take me into the College of Techmaturgy."

"Hmph…that's not a problem if the voidling army is extinguished—sure, I will bring you inside, for whatever reasons you have."

"We have a deal."

Twisted fate extended his hand to Rengar. Rengar just stared at the hand for a few seconds, before extending his and grasping his hand.

"Very well, human."

* * *

The great mountain which separated the canyon below the College of Techmaturgy and the outskirts of Zaun was surely a spectacular sight.

A car was parked at the foot of the mountain, beside the road that would soon lead towards uphill. The mountain had a stony surface, but trees could be spotted at the higher parts of the mountain.

The group of four had stopped at the foot of the mountain, just as planned. They sat on the grassy floor in a circle, surrounding pieces of firewood with a yellow flame burning on it, which danced in the breeze while providing warmth here in the cool outskirts.

Lucian positioned a piece of lamb chop on top of the fire with a stick, looking at it while drooling like a hungry child. The lamb was brownish on the exterior, clearly sufficiently cooked. He then held it in front of his mouth, examined it closely and dropped more saliva to his chin before eventually devouring it, chewing the meat multiple times.

"This lamb of Gibson's is the best I've tasted in my life," he mumbled while chewing. Beside him was a pack of raw lamb chops from Gibson.

"Really, huh," Vayne replied, holding her own lamb chop, already reduced to half. "Definitely better than eating bread for the whole journey."

"Oh my god," Jarvan exclaimed, holding a stick on the fire with a piece of cheese bread stuck at the end of it. "Did Vayne just tell a joke?"

"Shut up, Jarvan."

The driver, Dale, also had his own lamb chop.

"You're done with the car?"

"Yes, Prince."

"Good. Just make sure we will be able to set off tomorrow morning, or else…I'm not going to break my legs walking up that stupidly tall mountain. Maybe you guys can."

"You've eaten so much bread, Jarvan. Surely you'll muster enough strength to climb up there. If you can't you can hold on that Baguette bread as your walking stick!"

Indeed among the bread he brought, there was one which was very long and narrow in size and shape, which was called the "Baguette".

"If Twisted fate were here, he could just…teleport his way up there. Sometimes I really am jealous of him, you know. He could literally go anywhere at any time."

"You have any idea where he went since his disappearance in Piltover, Jarvan?"

"Not a clue, to be honest. If he finds us he will come to us. But for now, we can just only hope that the police didn't get him first."

"Impossible. He has never been caught before. And it will stay that way." Dale said.

"Who knows? But he should reach us if he really got out of there! Or maybe...he ditched us? You know him, Jarvan. His name was spread all over the place, but none showed that he was trustworthy."

"That couldn't be. He couldn't have just walked out of this—oh. I understand."

It wasn't pleasing, but it was plausible. Twisted fate was not loyal to any faction as he knew, and he was at most...unpredictable. Twisted fate was interested in money, and whoever gave him the most would earn his loyalty. Jarvan hoped, however, that Twisted fate would stick to the plan.

A question that he had wanted to ask for long resurfaced to his mind.

"So, Vayne, you were abducted in Demacia?"

Vayne glared at him with her sunglasses. It was then that Jarvan wondered why he had never asked the true function of her sunglasses ever since they met, which was a lot of years ago.

"Yes. And?"

"How did you exactly get abducted?"

Vayne didn't seem to like the question. She looked at Lucian who sat beside her, looked at the moon, and finally looked at Jarvan.

"Ask no questions and I shall tell no lies."

Lucian and Jarvan gasped. Dale first watched the facial expressions of the two, then followed suit and gasped as well.

"Oh my god," Jarvan exclaimed. "Did Vayne just tell another joke?"

"Hit me, someone hit me." Lucian joked. "This must be a dream. My g—I mean, my partner never told a joke before."

"You really want to know what happened that night?" Vayne asked while glaring at Lucian. She was the only one who looked serious.

"Um, yes, yes, I mean, yes, why not," he answered cheekily.

Vayne sighed.

"It was a trap. It's the first time I got lured into a trap."

 _"Oh, Vayne. It's you."_

 _The Demacian leader stood on the balcony, dressed in his royal armor and holding his shield while gazing at the bright city before his weary eyes. Yet he didn't need to look back to acknowledge that a certain Night Hunter was standing behind him, obstructing him from the path towards the throne room. Indeed, her red sunglasses glared at his back, and she held her signature crossbow, though not aiming it at the man._

" _You stand in a rather threatening position, Night Hunter. We're allies, aren't we?"_

 _The High General did not flinch at all upon Vayne's unexpected arrival—he kept his tone calm and showed no sign of being intimidated._

" _I see weapons as a sign of aggression, too." Her voice was cold and emotionless as always._

" _You're armed as well. Armed with a crossbow that would easily kill me in less than a second," he countered. "The Randuin's Omen provides me the safety I need, and it makes me feel more secure."_

" _Holding a shield and wearing your armor for the whole time in the safest place of Demacia seems like overkill."_

" _Hmph…"_

 _Vayne looked unmoved, but the General was suspicious. Not initially, when she sneaked her way into the throne room from the bottom of the castle, unbeknownst to anyone in the building. But why would the General suddenly choose to hold a shield at night? He shouldn't be aware of her arrival—she always made her own appointments, and thus he shouldn't be prepared for it. Was it for something else? She didn't know. However, if this was the only clue he had given to her, she couldn't prove that he was one of the corrupted government officials in Demacia. She started to have doubts about the General, but not to take any action—for now._

 _The General—William—was actually thinking of an answer to her question. She wondered if he had reasons that would be…unspeakable._

" _I've received intelligence this morning," he finally spoke, "that an assassination attempt has been planned for me."_

 _Vayne looked around instinctively._

" _Tonight?"_

" _Yes. Though I fully trust in the ability of my men, what I did was just for safety measures—especially if someone as heavily guarded as Jarvan III could not run from the inevitable."_

 _She assessed what he had just said. He was right to be extra cautious. Also, William had proved himself to be a valuable member of the military over the years, and she had built some trust in him._

" _I've done some undercover work myself today, and I have sufficient reason to believe that Demacia is corrupted."_

 _This seemed to capture the old man's attention. He stared at him wide-eyed._

" _Corrupted? Our glorious nation…is corrupted?"_

" _I have discovered rebellious activity among your ranks, High General. If the assassination attempt you have mentioned is genuine, then they can possibly be the cause."_

 _Vayne expected the General to react with some surprise. But his face just simply stiffened, as if he had to some extent expected this. Now that was weird._

" _Come with me into the room. I'll show you the contents of the letter."_

 _That offer appeared to be reasonable. After all, more information might be in the letter, clues that almost every person would ignore. But what if he led her into a trap? He was quite suspicious at this stage, and he might have evil intentions after all. But Vayne had observed him over the years and he didn't strike her as the type of person who would betray his own country. His loyalty was displayed countless times—he even saved great military figures, like Garen or Xin Zhao, in the battlefield._

 _She could stay outside and wait for him to collect the letter, but what if he went in and did something else unbeknownst to her instead? There was no guarantee. She wanted to know every action of his._

 _In the end, Vayne decided to follow him into the room._

" _Glad you chose to trust me," he said. "I also feel something just doesn't feel right these days. If you suspected the same thing as I do, then this must be very serious. I haven't told anyone about this yet."_

" _Don't. We need to keep ourselves low until we have concrete evidence."_

 _Vayne had scarcely visited the throne room before. Curious, she took a quick glance around the lavish decorations of the room._

" _There's also another thing I noticed recently."_

" _And what is that?"_

 _There was a very weird smell in the air, similar to rotten apples or garlic._

" _There are reports of sightings of a giant rodent nearby this very castle."_

 _The smell was strong, and Vayne felt herself suddenly become tired. There was also an increasing urge for her to vomit._

" _No one has ever seen the rat up close, but they say whenever it's around, a disgusting smell follows…and they faint."_

 _Vayne tried her best to resist, but she could feel her body wasn't reacting well and she collapsed to the ground, coughing violently. Despite all of this, the General kept walking, ignoring her, as if everything was normal. She knew something sinister must have happened—only to her. And she finally came to know the true reason of William's unusual acts._

 _The General turned around and held up his shield, blocking a silver bolt from the Night Hunter._

" _And guess what, Night Hunter?"_

 _He smiled in the most twisted way she had ever seen—the smile of a true Noxian. Wasn't he a Demacian, as she read in his profile? But a Demacian would never use such horrible ways to reach their goal. Besides, no Demacian would ever betray their own country, as their National Anthem had stated._

 _A Noxian mole. That was possibly his true identity. Only a Noxian would do so much to infiltrate Demacia, possibly for the destruction of the country._

 _He held a powerful position and had a great amount of influence on the whole nation. If that was true, that it would imply that the insides of the whole nation might be already secretly in chaos. How many good men were killed? How many Noxian moles were still hiding in the shadows? And what progress had they made in slowly weakening this country?_

" _The rat is right in this room."_

 _Vayne tried to fire another bolt, but she found her hands were already numb and unresponsive. Despite her desperate efforts, it was inevitable that she would pass out. The Night Hunter had been lured into too many traps, yet had never actually fallen into one before. In spite of her rich experiences to deduce and outsmart her pursuers, she finally succumbed to the General's cunning, unable to do anything but to give up and…allow him to do anything to her. It was a horrific thought, but what else could she do?_

 _The possibilities were still in her mind as her eyes closed and her sight blurred. Before she lost consciousness, though, she heard the General said,_

" _Good job, Twitch. You singlehandedly took down the legendary Night Hunter."_

"And that was the story," she concluded.

"Why didn't the—" Both Jarvan and Lucian immediately asked right after she finished.

"Ok, you ask first, Lucian."

"I met a similar creature near your house. It might even be the exact same one. Did you see it?"

"No. I only saw the General before I passed out. No one else."

"What you experienced that day is the exact same as mine. Both of us are attacked by strong poison, but I barely escaped from him. It was a rat, a giant rat."

"A rat?" Vayne was slightly surprised.

"The Detector. The machine that detects any source of dark magic, you bring it everywhere you go, don't you?"

"I do. And on that day, I did. But when I walked into the throne room, it told me there wasn't any. And what happened next threw me off guard."

"Guess what, Vayne. The rat can go invisible."

Jarvan dropped his jaw. A rat that can go invisible and can leave deadly poison behind? It can just sneak up on someone without them knowing. Heck, it could even appear at his most vulnerable moments. Plus the fact that Vayne's advanced tech cannot detect its presence, indicating that it could go anywhere it pleases. That was a very handy ability—yet very dangerous in evil hands.

"That would explain why I couldn't see it. But if the machine cannot detect it—either it's malfunctioning or no magic is used in the invisibility."

"Probably the Detector is not functioning properly. And I've never heard someone can go invisible without magic." Lucian said. "Even a rat with that size."

"Such a monster in Demacia is very much unsettling," added Jarvan. "He could be anywhere in our ranks, killing them without anyone knowing…I didn't know that Noxians have such a terrifying secret weapon."

Lucian then continued to eat his meat in silence.

"Anyway, I shall go to bed—I mean, go to sleep, cause we don't have a bed here. Good night."

Jarvan stood up, threw the bones into the fire, and walked to an empty space where he laid down.

"You're comfortable with that armor on?" Lucian asked. "It's heavy, isn't it?"

"Nah, I'm fine with it. After years and years of military experience, I have trained my body to adapt to any environment with ease. The armor acts as a blanket and keeps me warm. Whatever, see you tomorrow." With that, he leant against one side and made no more noise.

"I shall rest too. Good night, Mr. Lucian and Ms. Vayne," Dale said formally.

Lucian yawned. He rubbed his eyes and stretched his arms, but then he saw two pieces of lamb chop on the ground, uncooked.

"You're tired, Vayne?"

"Not at all. But some sleep will be nice."

"You've worked overnight in so many days. Get some rest, sweetheart. I shall fill up my stomach first."

Vayne gave another sigh. She stood up and walked to another empty space, then laid down on the grass a few meters away, lying in a position she deemed suitable. She gazed at the clear night sky with thousands of shining stars, which reminded her of her parents. She remembered her mother telling her at a very young age that when someone dies "they go to the stars" and watched the mortals up in the sky. When she grew up it was clear that the whole thing was a simple legend, but a childish part of her still believed it to this very day—that her parents would witness her doings and be proud of what she had become.

Did she recall the precious memories of her spending time with her parents? Yes, just very, very blurred ones. Yet they were sweet, comforting memories, something she had enjoyed before her parents' impending doom—

"What are you thinking?"

Vayne's thoughts were cut by Lucian's sudden arrival. She looked up but didn't see him. She didn't expect him to be lying right beside her until he placed his hand on her shoulder. She jumped slightly upon realizing that. The Purifier placed his other hand behind his back in comfort.

"Something which reminds me of my parents."

Lucian chuckled. He too looked at the stars.

"Usually you would have said 'none of your business'."

"Keep quiet."

"Can't you answer with another phrase? Something more...romantic?"

Lucian ran his hands through Vayne's black hair, which felt like silk. There was a sweet smell coming from Vayne's body, so he shifted slightly nearer her, desiring to breathe in more of that smell.

"You still have your perfume? Smells feminine."

"Too bad it's also an insect repellant."

Lucian's hand then slid onto Vayne's cheek, touching her pale, soft skin. He knew long ago that Vayne had a perfume which was at the same time an insect repellent.

"It's funny how you become nervous whenever any man comes near you, yet I'm only a finger's length away from your body and you don't complain a single bit."

She didn't reply.

"After all of this we deserve a little celebration, don't we? It's simple—no one recognizes any of our faces except Jarvan and Dale. Dale should stay in Zaun, and I'll just tell Jarvan to keep things secret. It's going to be Snowdown around a month later, and there's a Snowdown Ball, right? We can dress like civilians and have a little dance. Escorting you to the dance floor, holding hands, slow and smooth dancing, kissing—going to be the best night ever."

"I doubt you know how to dance, Lucian."

"At least you do, Shauna. You can teach me how to do the elegant moves."

As he spoke Vayne noticed Lucian edge closer to her.

"Someone's really attracted to my perfume."

"You know, Vayne, no one in this world would have guessed that underneath the cruel and emotionless Night Hunter is an adorable, attractive and charming lady behind the costume."

Despite being in near darkness Lucian could spot Vayne's hand holding something, which she threw away.

"I brought some raspberries for the trip actually, very unique in a sense. Do you want to taste some?"

"Sure. Haven't eaten anything sweet recently—mmph!"

Lucian tasted the sweetness of raspberries in the next second, but on his lips instead. He felt Vayne's pale skin press onto his right in the face, nose to nose, and their lips locked. In spite of it just being a soft kiss, it was enough to paralyse the Purifier for the time being. Lucian knew Vayne's face pressed against his and wondered where Vayne's glasses went because he could see her eyes briefly.

Lucian wanted to deepen the kiss but it eventually broke, pulling him back into reality.

"That was…uh…quite romantic. Very romantic, to be precise."

"I'll consider joining the dance next month. Good night, my dear."

Vayne raised his body up and left the spot, leaving Lucian to stare at the starry sky and his mind to reimagine what happened just now.

* * *

 **Author's note:**

 **As our protagonists slowly approach the dreaded College of Techmaturgy, danger awaits…or might even take the initiative. The next chapter is bound to be action-packed!**

 **By the way, what type of animal does Rengar belong to? I presume a lion (cuz its face), but there's no official answer. Lions do pounce quite far though (and erases your health bar completely when they land in less than 0.5 seconds, according to my game experience).**


	19. Chapter 18

**Author's note:**

 **Well, just look at the size of the scroll box on your right (or left, idk) and you will know that there's going to be walls of text you will read in a short moment. As to why I cramp up everything into a long, long chapter? To be honest, everything that happens in this chapter is dealt with within one single night of this story. I don't want to break the tension, so you can read all the way to the end without asking "hey, what's going to happen next" or "oh, stupid cliffhangers again", especially in those "big ticket" action scenes (I usually tend to keep action scenes short because I know they're quite boring in the long term). Whatever, without further ado, let's get in the fight.**

* * *

 _Where am I?_

 _Jarvan looked around. What he could see was darkness. No light at all, just blackness._

 _This…no, impossible. Where are the stars? They couldn't just disappear. Maybe I should get up and check._

 _Except he realized that he couldn't move his arms and legs because for some reason they were locked by…something which felt like ropes._

 _He could also feel himself lie on something else. Not the grassy floor, but something stiff._

 _How could…am I in somewhere else?_

 _All of a sudden, the darkness vanished due to light. Jarvan was at first blinded by it, then his eyes adapted to the brightness and he could gradually see his surroundings._

 _To his horror he found himself lying on a wooden bench, his hands and legs fastened to rollers. He recognized the bench to be a "rack", a common torture device used usually during interrogations. As the interrogation progresses, the top roller would be used to gradually increase the tension on the chains, inflicting excruciating pain. There was light, but it only shone on him and the rack as a circle, as if he was the spotlight—outside the light was the same dull darkness._

 _What is this place? And why am I locked in a torture device? No way…what if I'm captured in the middle of my sleep? But then where are the others?_

" _Looking for someone?"_

 _The voice first came to his head, then echoed all over the place. He tried his best to look backwards, difficult due to his physical restrictions. However, he need not see the speaker work out who the person was. Who_ _ **she**_ _was, to be exact._

" _Vayne? Who locked me up here? Where are we?"_

" _Your location doesn't matter. The main point is that I locked you up."_

" _What? WHAT?"_

 _His voice echoed all over the place._

" _How dare you interfere with my affairs."_

" _Affairs? What affairs?"_

" _Don't pretend you don't know. You know very well what happened between you and me."_

" _Then explain to me, Vayne. I have no idea why I ended up here. Last time I checked we were at the foot of the mountain of the College of Techmaturgy."_

 _There was only confusion_ _in Jarvan's mind n._

" _How dare you invade my and Lucian's privacy."_

" _Oh. You mean that time when you kissed in your bedroom—"_

 _Jarvan immediately shut his mouth when a silver bolt landed right beside his head. He peeked at the direction where it came from, but no sign of the Night Hunter._

 _He wondered why he said something like that. The words came out of his mouth naturally, without passing through his brain. It felt like his mouth was in control and was an independent part of his body. Weird. And the strangest thing was that he had no idea what he had just said._

" _For this very reason, Jarvan, you will suffer for your actions—starting from your physical body."_

" _Wait—you and Lucian actually are lovers? Not as far as I know. And no, Vayne, I don't believe you will hurt me, because if there's one thing I've learnt about you for years, it's that you don't kill someone with feeble reasons. You're not a fan of killing people."_

" _You're right. I won't hurt you. But I don't need to do the dirty work myself."_

 _In an instant Jarvan watched as the bench below him disappeared into ashes completely, and so did the metal bands holding him. Only his body remained, and he saw that below him was utter whiteness from the light. The darkness remained. However for some odd reason, he could not move an inch—his head was an exception._

 _Then, out of the light came a creature. Its body was like the mist, or black smoke. Its eyes were pure white eyeholes with nothingness. Its appearance had nothing to with humans, demon-like except its long, thin arms._

 _A nightmarish creature._

 _Jarvan was braver than most men, but even he couldn't keep his cool at such a ghastly sight. The prince's low-pitched screams echoed over the whole place._

" _What is this?"_

" _The perfect punisher."_

" _Vayne! This isn't you. Haven't you dedicated your entire lifetime for the extinction of these creatures! How can you use them as your own servants, as your method of condemnation!"_

 _There was no answer._

 _Jarvan looked at the ghost again, but there was only white light in front of him. The ghost had disappeared without a trace._

 _Huh? Where did it go now?_

 _He looked as his body. The armor was present, and so far his physical condition was fine. The silver bolt had disappeared too._

 _This is getting creepy. C'mon, Vayne, this is not a joke. Stop playing tricks on me—_

 _The dark creature was right on top of him, jump-scaring him (although he could not jump). It revealed its similarly white, hollow mouth while it screamed at the highest-pitched voice he had heard, surely loud enough to deafen him. Surprisingly, his ears still worked._

 _The ghost grabbed him by the arms, shaking him vigorously like a rag doll. Jarvan's view became shaky, constantly up and down. His chin kept on smashing onto his neck. He felt his neck gradually softening, the feeling that the head would fall off soon—_

 _No, no. The neck can't possibly separate from my body._

 _But at this rate of shaking, he had no idea what to expect. The prince also had no way of complaining, as there was no way he could speak when he was shaking this hard._

 _The creature opened its mouth again. It screamed again, but this time he was screaming words._

" _JJJJJJJAAAAAAARRRRRRRRVVVVVVVVAAAAANNNNN!"_

 _Even his mother did not scream like that when he was young. This creature was crazy._

" _JJJAAARRRVVAANN!"_

"Jarvan!"

What he could see was near darkness except for the dim light from the starry sky.

"WOAH—"

He felt his mouth along with his nose instantly covered by something, which felt like someone's palm.

"Keep quiet, Jarvan. You must wake up right now. We're in serious danger."

The voice was significantly softer and lower, though Jarvan quickly recognized it to be Lucian's. He could not see Lucian at all, not even his hand.

"Mmmmmmmmph!" (Are you the monster all along, Lucian?)

"Don't make a sound! Three cars are coming from the mountain road towards us on the highway! We don't know who they are, but we must be on guard! Plus Vayne's detector has signaled that dark creatures are nearby!"

Jarvan looked around and saw six small, circular dots in a distance, lined up horizontally, becoming larger and larger by the minute.

"Vayne is already preparing herself, but you need to get ready to fight in case those people choose to get off here."

Jarvan noticed his mouth was no longer covered. He could now speak once again.

"They aren't here, right? Why speak this softly?" He asked, deliberately lowering his voice.

"I've met ghosts who can hear from a very far distance, and I'm not going to risk that."

"Understood."

"And what was happening in your sleep? Cause I saw you uttering random words just now, and your body kept on shaking uncontrollably. Was it a nightmare?"

"Um…yes."

Even if he said no he doubted Lucian would believe it. The symptoms were too obvious.

"And how exactly did you see me in the dark?"

"I had some gadgets of mine. Night-vision goggles, for example."

"Night vision goggles?"

"The one Vayne wears. As the name suggests, it gives you night vision."

"Oh. You have the exact same one as hers? The red one?"

"Similar. Now keep quiet. They're here."

Jarvan shifted his focus to the six white circles who were already enlarged substantially, indicating that the cars were not too far from them. Suddenly the light dots stopped moving.

"I can see the cars stop," Lucian whispered.

"I can see total darkness."

"Ok."

After the light dots stopped there was silence. Jarvan just focused on the dots which just remained there, since there wasn't anything else to see. At least for him.

"I see the car doors open," Lucian exclaimed. "Someone is going to come out."

"Where is Vayne?"

"A few meters in front of me."

Since there was nothing he could do, he chose to just listen to whatever Lucian had to say.

"Wait—there's no one in the car after all!"

"What did you say?"

"There's no one in the car!"

"Huh? Then how did the car move if no one is driving?"

"If no person is driving the car, then the reason that it moves can only be one."

The next second Jarvan saw a white missile to his right that flew towards the direction of the white dots and exploded in a star shape, illuminating the darkness. In the swarming light, the prince could finally see briefly what was in front of him.

Just as he expected, three cars were parked around theirs, surrounding it. The cars were all grey in colour.

What wasn't expected though, was that a group of black creatures was floating nearby the cars. Strangely, they looked like the monster in his nightmare in every way—its hollow eyes and mouth, its misty body, its horribly long arms...it's possible they were the exact same creature.

Below the creatures was the patch of grass, unchanged. And standing on the grass was a figure wearing a red cape and holding a golden crossbow.

The creatures screamed just as a hail of silver bolts pierced through them, travelling out from the other side, leaving behind a hole in their bodies. Then the hole expanded, and the creatures appeared to dissolve into thin air, leaving no trace, not even black smoke. The light provided by the white missile lasted long enough for Jarvan to see the entire death process of the nightmarish creatures.

The prince looked to his right and saw Lucian, who was holding his white gun with a black handle. Interestingly, there was no muzzle at the head of the gun. The Purifier himself wore a pair of non-transparent black glasses.

"Here, grab this lantern. These creatures are invisible to the naked eye, but the light emitted from this lantern can reveal them all. The heat also hurts them, so if you hold it close to them they will dissolve, just like what Vayne did to them."

"Understood," Jarvan said in his normal voice, seeing that Lucian stopped whispering.

In Lucian's hand was a metal lantern. Lucian pointed his gun at the lantern and fired at its opening, the light reaching the insides. Immediately a golden flame sparked, giving out a very brilliant golden glow.

"This is a lantern made purely out of silver."

"Silver again? Seriously?"

"For monster hunters like us, silver is the go-to choice in dealing with them. We're quite obsessed with these metals, especially for Vayne. Also, it's a well-known fact that monsters usually fear fire."

"Never heard of such a thing. Anyway, I'll take it. Give me the lantern."

Jarvan took the lantern from Lucian. He could already feel the heat even when held at arm's length.

"You go that side, Prince. I shall go the other side. Don't worry, we got monsters on every side, so you will get company."

"Ok," was his reply as he grasped his lance and moved forward into the darkness with the lantern. He had rarely come across dark creatures, except the time when mist walkers attacked his house, so he was quite afraid of them. However, he had two professional monster hunters at his side, and a lantern that could kill them seemed like a good deal. Why should he be afraid in the first place?

"Where's Dale?" The driver came to his mind, and he wondered where he was in all of this.

"He's with Vayne. She will protect him, no worries."

Jarvan was relieved. _Thank god he's still here._

Suddenly he saw a group of monsters, a total of six, drift into his light-zone. They looked as intimidating as ever, but this time he wasn't scared, now he knew they had a fatal weakness.

"Come closer, monster! I will burn you to ashes!" He boasted.

The creatures screamed again. Yet they just remained there, not daring to venture anywhere nearer to Jarvan. Meanwhile, Jarvan held the lantern closer to the ghosts, which frightened them and backed them off.

"Really? Are you afraid of this little light thingy? How lame of you."

This must have angered them because one of the ghosts dived towards the prince, its claws stretched out aiming for his head. In response, Jarvan attacked the ghost with his lance.

The sharp edge of the lance went through the ghost's body. Unfortunately, it literally just went through, as if he was poking through thin air. Obviously, the ghost was unaffected.

But when Jarvan looked up, he saw the ghost's body dissolving. Flames covered its body, burning away anything left of the ghost. As quickly as he appeared, it was just simply killed by the flames. Seeing this, the other ghosts backed even further away, their faces morphing into those of genuine fear which was actually quite hilarious.

Jarvan himself was also shocked—he had no idea the lantern was so deadly against these creatures. He thought it just simply scared away monsters, and they automatically wouldn't come any closer—now he knew what would happen if they did.

 _But if they can't attack me, and I can't attack them physically, then what am I supposed to do? Standing here makes me look pretty much useless._

As Jarvan pondered the question he saw a bolt of light from his left strike right at the horde of ghosts, disintegrating them into ashes. The surviving ones hastily turned away and escaped, unwilling to face the same fate.

"Relic laser guns are surely handy when it comes to this," Lucian chuckled, holding his two white guns. "Perhaps you want one of those?"

Jarvan had witnessed the firepower of the guns—able to one-shot monsters with just a single squeeze of the trigger. That was certainly cool.

"How exactly do you fire this?"

"Simple. Just squeeze the trigger."

The prince thought a laser gun would work differently.

"Ok. You squeeze it and…the laser comes out?"

"Yes, from the front of the gun. Just remember not to stick your head too close there, or else your face might turn into ashes. No joke."

"I'm not as stupid as you think, Lucian. I can handle it."

"Noted." Lucian then passed one of his guns to him. Jarvan gladly took it and held it in a fire-ready position with one hand, instantly pointing it at the monsters while using his eyes to aim.

"I'm not a fan of guns," he said, "but I can use it better than most gunmen."

The prince fired. He saw the head of the gun become white in colour as a laser was fired, travelling at great speed. Strangely, there was no recoil at all—the knockback caused by a gun when it was fired, nor the ear-piercing sound, converted to an acceptable volume.

The laser collided with one of the black monsters, disintegrating it immediately.

Without another word, Jarvan fired the gun multiple times at any monster in his sight. One by one they fell, disappearing into thin air as the piercing light extinguished them from existence. Soon the monsters chose to flee from sight instead of taking the offensive.

"Like the gun, my Prince?"

"It's great. It's excellent! Certainly a splendid weapon for you."

"Lucian. Jarvan. We must get on the car now."

Vayne was standing behind them, her loaded crossbow in her hand. She then raised her weapon and fired without even looking at the direction. Jarvan watched as the silver bolt killed another monster in a distance.

"Why? Can't we keep fighting? We sure can handle them," Lucian said.

"We can handle only a certain number of them." Vayne took out a small black box from her pocket, which Jarvan noticed had a few thermometers on it, together with a compass, and showed it to the both of them.

The prince had no idea what the meter was supposed to indicate, but Lucian didn't seem to be pleased with it. In fact, his face was grimmer than ever.

"Holy cow! That's…that number…is unprecedented in just a single area."

"What number? I don't see any numbers here."

"There are more than a hundred evil creatures surrounding us. Far more than a hundred. We can't fight all of them at once, with just the three of us. Dale's starting the car, so we're getting out of this place right now."

All of a sudden he saw Lucian point his gun behind him and fired a shot. The white laser sped right beside his helmet, barely missing it. Looking back, he saw the shot hit a missile of black smoke which was originally flying towards him meters away. The shot exploded, then disappeared along with the smoke.

"Inside that smoke is a number of souls grouped together. Trust me, you will not want to get hit by that." Lucian explained.

The three of them ran towards the car, with its headlights and rear lights on. There was also a golden glow in the car, exactly the same as his lantern's. Jarvan held his lantern tightly, knowing well that it was the sole thing that kept the monsters away from him. Interestingly, the three cars that first surrounded theirs were in debris.

"I blew up the cars or else we cannot get out."

"You bring explosives along with you, Vayne?"

"Just in case."

When they reached the car, Jarvan pulled the car handle and dove into the car as quickly as he could.

"Hello Dale," he hastily greeted, hiding his fear.

"Uhhhh…hello, Prince." Dale was a different story.

"We have to move now, Dale. Put this on. Night vision will surely help you a lot here." After Vayne sat in the front passenger seat she took off her sunglasses and gave them to the driver. Jarvan had actually never seen Vayne take off her sunglasses before, but she wasn't facing him currently so he couldn't see her face. He saw her take out another pair of sunglasses and put them on.

"What colour is that pair of glasses?" Lucian asked curiously, still wearing his own black ones.

"Black lenses with pink frames."

"Pink frames? Have I seen you wear the one with pink frames?"

"You did, once. Quite some time ago, if you remember."

"Oh. I'll think of that later."

Jarvan took a glance at the back window. The red rear lights revealed the creatures lurking in the darkness, gradually farther and farther from them as the car gained speed.

"Oh my god. Imagine what would have happened if we stayed there. So Vayne, where should we go right now?"

"The roads behind us are completely obstructed by the monsters, so our only choice at this moment is to…go up the mountain."

"What? Go up the mountain now? But remember what Gibson said—"

"Sorry, Jarvan, but we don't have much of a choice now. It's either forward or death."

"But how did so many of them appear so suddenly? A few hours ago we checked and there's no sign of even one of them! Now they're all over the place!"

Jarvan could not see the outside view at all, but he could feel they were driving on an ascending road.

"My guess is they must all come from a powerful source, and the source deliberately ordered them to target and attack us. Ghosts and monsters prefer working alone or in small groups, not in such massive numbers. That's what I observed over the years."

"If my guess is correct, these creatures are from the Shadow Isles if anything," Lucian suggested. "They can't just appear here without any help. Unless it's the Demon's portal."

"The Demon's portal! That might be the answer to our problems." Vayne said. "If that's true, we must deactivate it as soon as possible, or else we'll be imminently overwhelmed by those freaks."

"But if it's really the Demon's portal…it must be heavily guarded. If Noxus is truly behind this, then those big figures of Noxus—Darius, Swain—they'll be there waiting for us. Can we just defeat them with only the four of us?"

"Damn it. I should have brought more men." Jarvan regretted. "Now we're locked on to a tight situation. A do-or-death situation. Without a slight chance of victory."

"Cheer up, mate. We're the best fighters in Demacia, right? I and Vayne can easily take down a horde of monsters. Together with your tremendous strength, there's no one we can't take down." Lucian patted Jarvan's shoulder.

"You're right. It's just that…the stakes are abnormally high. One mistake of ours, and no one would be able to stop Noxus from its schemes—and it would be the demise of our nation."

Lucian nodded grimly. He looked out of the window and spoke no more. Vayne, too, looked outside. Dale was trying his best to drive without shaking constantly. Jarvan himself recalled the dream he had a while ago. It wasn't very logical in a sense, and he did not know what message the dream was trying to convey, other than proving the fact that Lucian and Vayne were lovers. It would certainly be an interesting topic if he wasn't in such a depressing situation.

 _Where are you, Twisted fate?_

* * *

"We're at the top of the mountain."

Jarvan sat straight upon hearing Dale's announcement. It had been a while since the car kept driving uphill. The roads were often bent, requiring Dale to turn left and right constantly. But despite driving in near darkness (the headlights were not sufficiently bright enough) they succeed in reaching the top in less than 20 minutes without encountering a single creature. Strange, as Lucian said.

They had been discussing tactics and strategies during the trip.

"We're still 30 kilometers from the College," Vayne stated, holding the map. "That means around 30 minutes."

"Don't you think something's off?" Lucian suspected. "Like just now there were armies of those creatures, and now there's not even a single one. If they can surround us under the mountain, theoretically some of them should be up here as well. Something's off."

"That's what I suspected, too. Keep vigilant. So far my detector didn't get anything nearby."

Lucian held his two guns tightly. He adjusted his glasses slightly and looked outside. Up to this point, Jarvan still hadn't a clue what the view was like outside.

"Do you mind letting me try on these glasses?"

"Glasses? Oh, ok, sure you can."

The purifier took off his black glasses and handed it over to him, which Jarvan examined curiously. There wasn't any difference when compared to ordinary ones, except that the temples were unusually thick. Wondering what "night vision" would look like, he placed them onto his eyes. In an instant his vision became green. Everything around him brightened up, sufficiently bright enough. Other than being able to see what's in the car, he looked outside and could see they were in a forest, driving along a nearly straight road. He couldn't identify any colour other than green, but it was clear it was a relatively dense forest. The trees were tall enough to almost blot out the sky. The quality was good enough—the glasses literally gave him owl-like eyes (or maybe even better than owls) without any consequences or disadvantages.

"You can attach the spectacles to your head manually if you want. Now, you're wearing it casually, but when we're in fights we might drop our glasses, which might be crucial to the battle's outcome. The modified one will feel more uneasy, but it will stick to your head wherever you go. So when I hang myself upside down on the ceiling, my glasses won't drop from my head."

Jarvan watched as Lucian's hands combined the temples together with his hands at the back of the prince's head. After he was done, the purifier placed his fingers on the frame and tried to pull it off his head, but it didn't budge.

"I see."

"Guys, my Detector has received signals. The presence of dark creatures is detected—and it's heading towards us very quickly!"

"Very quickly? You mean how quick—"

At once there came a loud "bam", and the next thing Jarvan knew was that his head jerked to the driver's seat, though his helmet mitigated most of the force. The whole car descended into chaos as he saw Lucian and Vayne similarly jerk forward, albeit not as much due to their seat-belts. He watched as the items in the car, such as the tissue box and his shield, seemingly defy gravity by flying up towards the car roof. Seconds later, there was a loud crash on the car roof, turning into pieces of debris as it was demolished, along with the shattering of glass. Things happened too quickly, and Jarvan could only watch himself being tossed out of the car, the car door giving way as his back slammed into it. He felt himself flying through the air for seconds briefly before landing on a hard surface head-first. His body tumbled a few times, stopping eventually.

A while later, he managed to muster enough strength to get up and realized he could see clearly with his glasses, instead of pure darkness. The prince was relieved that he was given the night-vision goggles and that Lucian had bonded it with his head so it didn't fall off when he was thrown out.

Their car was completely flipped over, its wheels pointing upwards. One wheel was missing, no longer in its original place. The door that he smashed into laid nearby the car in pieces, leaving behind an open entrance into the car. Meanwhile, the state of the car was…worse than just simply disfiguration. The whole front of the car was bent into an irregular shape. Even if someone could miraculously flip the car back, it was already too damaged to run again. In other words, the car was unusable.

He was lucky that he wore his armor—it protected him from all sorts of injuries, even when he was tossed out of a car. Put someone else in his place, they might have all suffered broken limbs, head injuries, or whatever horrible things that might follow.

 _Wait—what happened to Dale, Vayne, and Lucian? They don't have armor like I do._

Struggling to get up, he regained his composure and headed towards the upside-down car. There was a glow in the car. He bent down to the light source and saw Dale inside, his head leaning on a white, expanded airbag. However, Jarvan had never seen airbags used in cars before.

 _What is that? A pillow in a car?_

The prince carefully dragged him out of the car and into his arms. He carried him out and put him down on the road. Just then, Dale coughed.

"You're fine, Dale. That pillow saved you."

"That's…that's not a pillow. That's called an airbag. It's something I added to my car before our journey. Guess it paid off. Ugh…"

Jarvan checked Dale's body. He wasn't looking too bad other than a few bruises.

"Stay here. I will look for Vayne and Lucian."

He returned to the car, noticing a very creepy atmosphere. His shadow loomed below him, but why were there…other shadows nearby? Wasn't he alone?

Jarvan held his breath, taking a swift glance around his surroundings. Around him was the forest he had seen in the car, as real as it seemed. So far, there seemed to be no one, which only made him more nervous.

Nevertheless, he bent down and looked into the cabin again. This time, there seemed to be no one inside. The prince placed both of his hands on the car and used all his strength to lift the car slightly. Looking inside again, he confirmed once again that no one was inside.

 _Where could they have gone? Maybe they were thrown out of the car._

"Prince Jarvan!"

Jarvan looked back towards Dale. Dale sat on the road, trembling. Unbeknownst to him, four ghosts—the same they had met at the foot of the mountain—hovered above him, claws ready to strike. However, the prince could see what was really happening.

He gasped in horror.

"Dale! Get out of there, now! There are ghosts in front of you!"

"What? There's no one there!"

"No, it's there, Dale. It's right in front of you! Get out! GET OUT—"

Suddenly there came blinding light in front of Jarvan (even when he wore the glasses). When it faded Lucian saw flames in the air, burning a few ghosts that were an arm's length away from a panicking Dale. Surprised, Jarvan took off his glasses and viewed again. This time, only flames could be seen in front of him. No ghost.

"These glasses—they can see the unseen—" he exclaimed.

"Which is why we night hunters use it."

Jarvan felt someone patting his shoulder. It turned out to be Lucian's hand, though his heart missed a beat when he did so. Vayne was standing behind Lucian, holding her crossbow as usual.

"Lucian! Where did you come from?"

"I stumbled out of the car before you came. So did Vayne. By the way, you're not hurt at all? You literally flew out of the car!"

"Nah, my armor got my back. Anyway, these glasses are incredible, but I'm giving it back to you. You'll need it more than I do."

"No problem. Jarvan, take the lantern in the car. You and Dale will need that. And Dale, come over here. You'll be safe only when you follow us."

"Um…ok…." Was the driver's reply.

"Our car broke down," sighed Vayne. "We have to walk to the College. Solely by feet. And quickly, because it seems we're no farther away from those monsters here."

"There's…there are cars available in the College. We can use it when we get there," the driver said.

"That's better. I wouldn't want to travel the whole way back to Zaun by foot."

"Wait. Hang on a moment." Vayne took out her Detector. "The levels are spiking high here. We're not far away from the source of these dark creatures." She positioned it in front of her, turning it in different directions until she eventually stopped at one.

"This direction. This is where the source is. Theoretically, if we destroy this dark source, the monsters will stop lingering around here. And I had thought about it—the Demon's portal alone cannot sustain these creatures. The monsters we met belong to a type called "Shadow Ghosts". They are souls from the "Black Mist" and are from the Shadow Isles. They're unique because they cannot be harmed by mortal weapons. But any creature in the Shadow Isles cannot enter Valoran without dying unless they have sufficient dark magic, since their shadowy bodies cannot adapt to our world. Someone, or some artifact, provided them the necessary dark magic, and given the massive number of ghosts we've met just now, the source must be very, very powerful. But if we destroy it, they will all die. All of them."

Jarvan nodded. Dale seemed to be calmer at the moment. Lucian simply spun his guns, tossing them in the air lightly.

"You told me earlier that it was the ghosts that drove the cars down there. But they don't have a physical body!"

"They do not by default. However, they can choose to become physical."

"Ok. So we're heading towards that direction now?"

"Yes."

"Ok. I will grab the lantern, and we shall go."

A while later the four of them set off into the forest. Jarvan had to resort to the lantern's glow in order to see in the darkness. He'd rather own a pair of night vision glasses, just as the two of them had. But the lantern also came with the ability to drive monsters away, and sadly Jarvan didn't have the tools to even touch the supernatural creatures. His battle lance was rendered useless in these situations.

"We're heading the right way. The levels of darkness have risen dramatically."

"So Vayne, why did our car get suddenly flipped over? I don't see anyone nearby. Surely there's a problem with the wheels of our car?"

"I've investigated into that just now, and it appears that a group of shadow ghosts merged into smoke and destroyed one of our wheels. They hit us straight on at high speed, knocking us into the air and thus flipping over."

"I see. The same ghosts that surrounded Dale just now?"

"Very likely."

They continued to head for the direction. Jarvan was still haunted by the unfamiliar creepy atmosphere, thus became very wary of any sound other than the shuffling of leaves. His body tensed up, ready to react to anything unworldly that might randomly emerge from nowhere. He had seen enough that he couldn't be scared again, no matter how ghastly they look. The prince couldn't see the sky, strangely. The moon and the stars were missing, something he had seen at the foot of the mountain, which gave him an unsettling thought—they might be in a gigantic indoor room with trees as red herrings—giving the deception that they might be in a forest.

 _No, no, not gonna happen. Vayne and Lucian know very well what's going on here. If they don't panic, neither should I._

Vayne was holding her Detector all along, staring at it. Then, without warning, she stopped. Unaware of what was happening, the others followed suit.

"The concentration of dark energy here is nearing maximum. We're roughly 200 meters away from the dark source."

"Hold on, guys," Lucian abruptly ordered. "We're just 200 meters away?"

"It says so."

"But there's no one guarding it. Not a single person or creature. If it's really a powerful source, then…it couldn't have been unguarded. Something's wrong."

"No metal has been detected in these areas. That means no landmines."

"Vayne—that's also a metal detector?"

"Yes."

All of a sudden there came repeated shrilling, sharp "KRAAAAA" sounds out of nowhere that soared the air. The unexpected sound alarmed the prince, instantly readying his lance.

"What was that?" Lucian asked.

"That call distinctively belongs to ravens." Came Vayne's reply.

"Swain." Jarvan firmly said with his teeth clenched. "Why would I had thought that this would be that easy?"

"Up there!" Vayne aimed her crossbow at the air and fired. The silver bolt disappeared into the darkness before another "kraa" was heard and followed by a loud thump.

Vayne then gestured the group to walk forward.

"It's a raven. Couldn't be wrong."

A while later Jarvan could see a black object in front of him, lying on the forest floor. He bent down and examined it. It was a huge, black bird that was at least one meter in length and judging by its size, weighted heavier than five kilograms. A monstrous size, in fact, for a raven. Apart from its large wingspan, perhaps its most disturbing feature was the eyes—they were giant red dots instead of the typical eyeball shape. It was certainly scary, but Jarvan had seen these birds before that appeared in the most extraordinary of places. Especially in wars versus Noxus, where they came in swarms.

And of course, there was the silver bolt stuck in its body that ultimately took it down.

"That…that raven…a Noxian raven." Even Dale could recognize it.

"It's certainly not going back to inform Swain of our presence," said Vayne, in her cold voice. "No one will."

Just then, there came another "KRAA", this time overlapping each other.

"A swarm of them," warned Vayne. "They're coming."

"Leave that to me," replied Lucian. "They're surely very smart. They know to attack from the blackest angles." He pointed his guns to his front and fired two shots simultaneously. Not far away, Jarvan could see the missile of light explode into a star-shape, igniting a swarm of ravens into flames. All of them dropped to the floor at once, allowing the fire to burn away their bodies.

"—but they will never realize that we, too, can see them in the dark," he finished.

"Guys, do you see something red over there?"

The others looked at where Jarvan was pointing. Within the light range of the lantern was a huge, dried…pool of blood. Curious, they ventured towards the spot. The dried blood had sunk quite deep into the forest floor, and thus the leaves, bark, and stems in the pool were all covered in blood.

"Blood…who could have left this behind?"

"Since it's dried, I can't identify it. Anyway, we should continue to look for the dark source—"

"What dark source?"

It was a different voice, not belonging to any of the four. A newcomer.

Jarvan looked back and saw the newcomer who stepped into the light. He was a muscular man with pale-blue skin. He wore black armor all over his body and a blue scarf on his head. A necklace with a shiny blue jewel rested in his chest. He held a huge shovel that stood taller than him, despite the man being already taller than most, he himself standing taller than two meters.

Both Vayne and Lucian pointed their respective weapons at the stranger.

"Who are you?" demanded Vayne with clear hostility.

"All of you, leave this place now."

"Answer my question." Vayne insisted. Meanwhile, Lucian whispered to Jarvan and Dale that the man in front of them was, according to Vayne's detector, the "dark source" they've been looking for.

"Him?"

Jarvan expected a ghost ten times larger than the ones they met before. The fact that all the dark power comes from a seemingly ordinary man was out of his expectations.

"You will leave this place now, or else you are to die."

"And what makes you think that you can beat us?"

Vayne fired a silver bolt. It struck the man and pierced through his arm. The man roared in pain, collapsing to the floor.

"Vayne!" Jarvan shouted, thinking that she had just killed a man in cold-blood.

"He's not going to die," she replied. "He's not going to get hurt after all."

Jarvan looked back at the man. Black liquid flowed down from his wound. He stopped yelling, and instead placed his hand on the silver bolt, pulling it out. He looked at his hand, slightly deformed. But the prince noticed that new skin grew back on his wound, and within seconds his body was restored to its original state as if nothing had happened. Jarvan was shocked.

"So you have regeneration." Vayne pointed out. "You're not just a simple human."

"I have a human body." The man had once again stood up, facing them. "But I possess far greater powers than you will imagine."

"Are you responsible for all these Shadow Isles creatures lurking around here?"

"I am here by the order of the "Master of Death". I am here as a barrier to prevent those from getting into the College. We shall unleash the horrors of Runeterra to this damned land!"

"Master of Death? Who the heck is that?" That was a new name for Jarvan and the others.

"You have no authority to ask this question, and now you will choose—leave or be damned."

It was a no-brainer at this point. The four of them have travelled so far, and being ordered to back off? Impossible. Plus Jarvan was quite curious of how a man with only an oversized shovel could stand up against them. He surely respected the guts of this man.

"You are the one to get out of our way," answered Lucian. "Be realistic—you can't fight us alone."

"Yes. I can't fight you alone." The man nodded. "But I have never been alone since I was born."

Once he finished Jarvan saw black mist surrounding the man. He raised his shovel and stabbed the shovel into the ground with strength. Immediately hundreds of high-pitched screams followed—surprising the four of them. The forest floor, apparently lifeless, suddenly transformed into a dreaded floor as lots of white arms emerged from the leaves. A few of them revealed their heads, which Jarvan recalled to be the exact same as the ones that attacked him in his house.

 _The mist walkers. So this man is responsible._

The monsters don't just come from the ground, though. Up in the air, Jarvan could see the same the shadow ghosts drifting just outside the range of the light. And they came in heavy numbers too—more than a hundred.

Above the man was a huge black cloud, its size even bigger than the man himself. The cloud continued to expand until it became twice its original size. A blue flame seemed to form on its top, and it grew an arm each on its two sides. Gradually it became another Shadow ghost, but way bigger in size.

Jarvan realized they were totally surrounded by monsters of all types.

"The souls of the dead—they've been loyal servants of mine since my birth," the man boomed, his voice raising nearly hundredfold, automatically echoing all over the place. "You choose to oppose me, and now you are beyond saving."

"Damn. I did not sign up for this."

"Neither do I, prince Jarvan. But we don't have much of a choice now," said Lucian.

The black mist surrounding the man thickens, now swirling around him.

The man raised his shovel once again. This time, he pointed the weapon at the four of them, as if commanding the monsters to attack. Vayne and Lucian were prepared to attack. So did Jarvan. Dale, on the other hand, was too frightened to say anything logical, not to mention do any logical. He tried his best not to faint.

"My name is Yorick. And I shall perform your rites!"

* * *

The man called Yorick spoke with exceptional emphasis on the last three words.

Vayne immediately fired a silver bolt at the man. However, the huge ghost instantaneously moved into the bolt's path, intercepting the projectile and preventing it from hurting Yorick. The creature made creepy sounds that no one could understand—the bolt was seemingly consumed by the creature.

"Haven't seen silver for a while. It surely is one of the best ways to dispose of us dark creatures—but the Maiden of the Mist takes far less damage from silver then I do."

"Lucian, you and Jarvan try to kill all the monsters surrounding us," Vayne ordered. "Jarvan, you can kill the mist walkers, since they are physical bodies. Let me deal with Yorick."

"Yes, madam," Lucian replied.

With that Vayne took out her grappling gun and fired it at the tree branches high up in the air. She left the ground just as the Maiden spat a black mist-missile at her previous spot, which turned the ground to black. The Night Hunter disappeared into the night.

"Guess it's up to ourselves, prince."

"I will hold them as long as I can," said Jarvan with confidence as he landed his lance in a nearby mist walker.

Vayne landed on a tree branch. It was totally dark here, but thanks to her sunglasses she could see as well as day. Noticing that hordes of shadow ghosts and the Maiden were hunting her down, she turned her gaze to the hand crossbow armed on her right hand.

The hand crossbow was one of her weapons that she rarely used. Unlike her signature golden crossbow which must be fired manually, the hand crossbow was an automatic weapon which she had created using some Hextech. Able to fire at a maximum of 3 bolts per second, this type of crossbow had unparalleled firepower, easily dispatching a group of monsters in quick succession, though limited by its difficulty to aim properly. Thus, the golden crossbow was Vayne's common choice in missions for its lethal accuracy—but who cares about accuracy when you can shoot any monster no matter how badly you aimed?

Vayne took out a handful of silver bolts and carefully placed them onto the hand crossbow. When it was fully loaded, she took another quick glance around—this time she saw the monsters have already caught up to her, gathering right below her.

The Night Hunter quickly formulated a plan in her mind, as she always did.

 _If I can land a few bolts on his fatal body parts, he should be killed with ease. But the Maiden is a problem—she is keen in blocking my attacks._

She launched her grappling gun at another tree, gliding towards there swiftly as the branch was torn down by the monsters.

 _I must use my invisibility if I want to get close to him. Ah, yes, that's how I will kill him. My guess is that they don't have invisibility detection. Shouldn't be too much of a problem._

Confident in her plan, Vayne fired her grappling gun once again, this time on the same tree branch she was standing on. She then concentrated, reciting a magical spell before leaping down the branch. As she dropped from the air her body turned invisible, completely disappearing from the monsters' sight.

The invisibility spell was currently the only spell she had mastered, for it did not require any magic at all—she did not practice even one bit of magic. She learnt the spell herself from her father's book, but was completely unaware that not everyone could perform the spell just by reciting it—the ultimate key was her family's bloodline. Her former generations were actually mages who consistently practiced magic. They knew how to turn themselves invisible—a spell that most mages had struggled to learn. One of her great-grandfathers was wise enough to infuse his body with certain elements of the spell, enabling his offspring to perform the spell even without magic. Vayne, however, was uninterested and despised magic—her parents were killed by a witch. She tried her best to refrain from using spells and used weapons instead. The invisibility spell, however, was an opportunity that was too good to pass up.

One special thing about the spell was the fact that it did not directly turn casters invisible. Instead, it surrounds the caster with a magical field that prevents outsiders from being able to see or hear whatever was on the field. Due to this property, she could become invisible along with anything she had in her hand, her back or her head—it would be very awkward if only your body was invisible and yet your accessories remain visible. However, she could not turn anything external invisible.

Vayne landed on the forest floor safely and drew back her grappling hook, which disappeared from sight along with herself. The monsters were absolutely confused and outraged, wondering where the woman had gone to.

The Maiden returned beside Yorick, who also looked around searching for the Night Hunter.

"Interesting, young woman. First you surprise me with silver, now you surprise me with invisibility!"

Unbeknownst to him, Vayne was already standing two meters away from Yorick, aiming her crossbow at his neck, ready to deliver a fatal blow. The man's neck was difficult to reach due to his height, but it wasn't a problem for her.

She knew very well that hundreds of dark creatures were searching for her, and once she revealed herself she only got a few precious seconds to turn invisible once again, or else she would be overwhelmed.

Vayne activated her crossbow. It began firing barrages of silver bolts towards Yorick's neck. Yorick immediately turned to face the bolts, extending his shovel to intercept them, but not before allowing ten bolts to strike through his defenseless neck.

"Aarrgggh!" Yorick boomed, this time in pain.

Vayne smirked. _He will die to the silver very soon._

She suddenly tumbled to her left, narrowly dodging a shadow ghost's claw aimed towards her head. The Night Hunter simultaneously became invisible once again after switching off the crossbow, backing off from Yorick to see what would happen to him.

It was way worse than she thought.

Her bolts must have hit exactly the right place—because it separated his head from his neck. Yorick's big head just fell off from its place, while his wounded neck literally burst out black liquid like a volcano, while his hand dropped his giant shovel. His head landed on the forest floor with a loud "thump", like a rock, and the face ceased moving altogether. His body just stood there, not moving at all. Vayne was surely cold-blooded, but she never brutally killed someone just by slicing off one's head. There was a slight pang of guilt in her mind.

But then things got worse.

The forest floor below Vayne suddenly collapsed, causing her to fall into a dark pit which was under her after all. Vayne's body thumped the rocky ground inside the pit, and shortly after she felt a sharp pain on her waist. She shut her mouth, stopping herself from screaming, but it was clear that her invisibility was broken and she was no longer the secret stalker who could roam under the creatures' very noses. Looking up, the Night Hunter noticed the canines of a huge mist walker stuck in her waist, filled with blood—her own. It then pulled it out, forcing Vayne not to scream again. She saw other mist walkers—around six to seven—surrounding her, and a while later she felt cold hands grabbing her legs and arms and watched as she was dragged out of the pit by huge mist walkers, straight towards Yorick.

Exceeding all expectations—Yorick's remaining body bent down and picked up the head with his hands. Then he held the head high up in the air before slamming it back to its original place, forcing and squeezing it into his neck. It seemed to work, but the head wasn't completely mended with the neck and black liquid still burst out from the openings.

Then the Maiden appeared beside Yorick. The living black cloud dove into Yorick's neck, surrounding it with the black mist. It swirled and swirled like a sandstorm, and moments later it was gone. But what remained in place was Yorick's entirely healed neck, as if he wasn't hit by bolts after all.

"Those were nice shots, mortal," the man boomed. "You almost killed me with those nicely aimed silver bolts of yours. But the Maiden has saved me once again. Now I will live long enough to witness your death!"

Vayne was contemplating why she was discovered by the mist walkers, or by Yorick—she did not know.

 _My cover is still not blown until I stepped on that pit filled with mist walkers—Ah, this may be the reason._

Vayne hypothesized that the mist walkers could not see through her invisibility—but could detect it. The Night Hunter knew her spell could hide her physically, but it was inevitable that she would leave behind noises and movements in the ground. Noises weren't a problem—her body gear was designed to be near silent. But movements, on the other hand, could be felt by mist walkers hiding under the ground—even the slightest of vibrations might be heard.

But now she had to get out first while bearing the extreme pain in her waist.

Vayne was thrown in front of Yorick by the mist walkers.

"You think your invisibility will save you. But some monsters in the Shadow Isles have the ability to become invisible—and we can locate it. You think there will be any difficulty in locating you? You're a naïve girl."

 _I thought there's someone more naïve in Demacia than me. Like Lux._

"I'm different from the monsters in the Shadow Isles," Vayne answered. "I can outsmart your idiocy."

Vayne knew why Yorick would leave her alone without the Mist walkers—he thought she fired with the golden crossbow. He had no idea that there existed an automatic crossbow, still on her arm.

And still loaded.

With a swift movement of her fingers, Vayne reactivated the crossbow and fired at Yorick. Although Yorick did not expect her to retaliate, he was faster this time—he intercepted the first bolt with his shovel.

But when the man managed to remove the bolts that were stuck in his shovel, he realized the Night Hunter was gone again.

"GGRRR!" He grumbled. "Find that *****!"

Vayne was standing on another tree branch high up in the air, holding her grappling hook. She would have been dead if it wasn't for her judgement and superior actions. But she was only temporarily safe—she knew soon her presence on the branch would be noticed, sooner or later.

Unfortunately for her, luck wasn't on her side.

The tree branch cracked.

Vayne watched as all the dark creatures around her turned to face her, despite not knowing her exact location. Nonetheless, she had to act now.

The Night Hunter fired her grappling gun at a tree bark of the same tree this time above her and leapt off the branch just as a group of shadow ghosts tore it down.

As she fell from the branch, the hook which she held on tightly managed to pull her up towards the spot, causing her to rush up towards the upper tree branch in a burst of speed. Moments later her legs landed on the wood, which was thicker than others so that it wouldn't collapse due to weight, just like the last one. Having bought herself a few more seconds to spare, Vayne immediately planned for her next course of action. She looked at Yorick again.

This time, Yorick was surrounded by a horde of shadow ghosts and mist walkers. It was a sign that suggested that the man was possibly fearful for his own safety, something she could take advantage of. Yorick had supposedly consumed the entire Maiden's power for his resurrection, otherwise, it would have been impossible for him to do such an unworldly act—no one could possibly pick one's own head with a headless body!

Vayne's plan was simple—she would leap onto Yorick from her spot and bombard him with her silver bolts. Killing him in melee should guarantee his death, preventing him from resurrecting again with whatever gruesome method he might come up with. As for the dozens of monsters that formed a barrier around the man, a distraction would be best. But how?

The Night Hunter continued to ponder for the next few seconds. Then she reloaded her crossbow, took out a small red grenade in her hand, and with the combined effort of her legs jumped off the tree branch at the farthest range possible to close the distance between her and her landing spot.

She then fired a bolt aimed at a completely different direction.

The bolt only became visible to the monsters when it was fired several meters away, thus being able to conceal her location. It appeared that a silver bolt came out of thin air, but it nevertheless captured their attention. The monsters dove towards the bolt, destroying it in mere seconds but not without the deaths of a few.

Vayne saw Yorick also staring at the silver bolt, distracted. She made sure this would be the last sight he would see.

She landed on Yorick's head, pushing his head down with force. Then she threw the red grenade into the air, which exploded almost instantly. There came a blinding flash and a small ball of fire, but its most obvious effect was not this—the generated heat waves are. The vicinity around Yorick became very hot, forcing nearby monsters to back off and burning monsters that were too close. All of a sudden Vayne and Yorick were the only ones in the blast radius of the bomb.

Vayne activated her hand crossbow, firing dozens of silver bolts at Yorick's head once again, this time deep into his skull. Black liquid spat out from the wounds that the bolts created—a particularly large wound in size poured out huge amounts of them, turning Vayne's legs black.

And this time, the Night Hunter did not underestimate Yorick's survivability. Even with such a fatal wound, as her bolts had travelled deep into Yorick's head, she had to confirm that he was truly dead if anything, and was prepared for any counter-attack from the man. Which was why Vayne saw a giant shovel coming behind her.

She darted out just as the shovel's end landed on her original spot, which stabbed into his own body instead. A pained cry could be heard from Yorick, which echoed all over the forest still, whilst the woman landed onto the ground gracefully.

Vayne launched her grappling hook at Yorick's chest and returned to him from afar, launching a powerful kick to his chest. Yorick, though quite heavy, was still knocked back to the ground. Vayne then ran to Yorick, and now, having already stopped the automatic crossbow, instead took out one loaded bolt from the crossbow, held it in her hand and stabbed it into Yorick's chest.

"AAAAAARRRRRRGGGHHHHH!"

Vayne inserted the bolt deeper into his chest, and saw the silver in effect—his skin started to decay rapidly, and his head was basically quite close to being fully covered with black liquid and silver bolts. She drew another two bolts and stabbed one into each of his arms respectively. Then, with her strength, she propelled the bolts upwards and downwards, slicing off his arms. The arms were immediately thrown away.

With both of Yorick's arms cut off, his head nearly sliced off once again and a bolt stabbed right in his chest, she finally believed that he had finally succumbed to his over-serious wounds and had lost power to fight back.

 _Theoretically, if he dies then all the dark creatures will die together. Let's see if this is true—_

She suddenly felt something rather…creepy behind her, tingling her senses. With near inhuman reaction speed, she turned around and saw a shadow ghost, ready to attack her with its claws. Vayne almost successfully dodged its attack—but she was a millisecond too slow. The ghost's claw slit into her face, leaving behind a fresh blood scratch on her face.

Vayne said nothing. She quickly drew another heat grenade and detonated it, having insufficient time to distance it from her. It instantly dissolved the ghost and dissuaded the others from getting near her once more, but she was also hurt in the explosion, burnt skin on her face due to the heat.

"You think you have defeated me?"

The booming voice was still here, and the monsters hadn't died—which could mean only one thing. Vayne could not see Yorick's mouth clearly, but there was certainly movement on his head.

"No matter how much you tear my body parts up or stab me with silver, I will live for decades—whereas you will live a little more than a minute. The Black Mist has given me a blessing and a curse, and as much as I hate to be nearly immortal, I will rejoice in digging a grave designed for you, woman."

Vayne became very, very nervous. Never had a dark creature be able to withstand the damage of so many silver bolts, and yet still fail to die. If he could not die like the others did, then there must be something unique about him that made him different—

The shiny blue jewel on his chest. Glimmering with blue, sparkling light with a certain liquid in it. It was something that only Yorick owned, and this was the biggest difference he had with the others. Would a jewel be so detrimental to the life of a seemingly immortal Yorick? Vayne highly doubted it. But she was left with no choice—in seconds the heat grenade's effects would end, and the swarm of monsters would overwhelm her. The key to ending all of this was in front of her, and her fate—her comrades' fate—and potentially Demacia's fate—lied on this single moment.

 _Damn. Why am I relying on luck as much as Fate does?_

Vayne grasped a bolt in her hand. She grabbed the blue jewel and stabbed it with the bolt with all her might.

After the jewel shattered into pieces of glass and the shiny, blue liquid inside was freed, its remains dropped onto the forest floor, and nothing happened.

Nothing happened.

Vayne felt as if her heart was struck by a silver bolt. To realize that the blue jewel was a red herring after all—she should have known it long ago. Now she could hear Yorick laughing evilly under his deformed face, joyous that the legendary Night Hunter had lost to him—

The colour of the shiny, blue liquid on the forest floor disappeared. It faded to total darkness and no longer retained its shiny self. Immediately afterward, black smoke hovered and surrounded Yorick—yet this time it was different. This black smoke felt…hostile towards Yorick instead of being under him.

 _"You cannot escape us, Yorick. Your Vial is broken and your only protection is over. You will join us. You will become one with the Black Mist."_

It was a voice that seemed to come from…countless souls. A ghastly voice, some she had heard before during her encounters with them.

Suddenly, below Yorick was a newly formed whirlwind with lots of white-coloured souls drifting in it. Vayne watched as the dark creatures around her dissolved into black smoke and descended into the whirlwind, one by one. The whirlwind became larger and larger, prompting Vayne to back off its range.

" _You are freed, Yorick. You will embrace the beauty of death."_

The whirlwind then became smaller and smaller, then eventually disappeared without a trace.

Vayne just stood in place, staring at the very spot where the whirlwind formed. The whirlwind…the sounds…they were something she had never witnessed before, despite herself believing that she was experienced with almost everything involving the supernatural. Now she was absolutely disproved, and this sight was really one that she would remember. A reminder that the forces of evil were still at large.

 _Ah, yes. I should go back to look for Jarvan. Wonder if he made through that. Hopefully, he did._

* * *

 **Author's note:**

 **Intense and thrilling fight in this chapter! (At least that's what I thought.) I've used Yorick as the boss in this chapter, because he's actually quite underrated even after the rework (which was supposed to make Yorick great again), and I'm trying to make him, y know, more badass.**

 **Did you read every single line in this chapter? Or skip the action scenes? (Sometimes I do.) Hopefully, they aren't too boring for you.**

 **Now that the major barrier has been broken, we step into the climax of the story as our protagonists finally reach the College of Techmaturgy (in a matter of 8 chapters) and ready themselves for the eventual faceoff against Swain (yes, it's no spoiler that the General of Noxus will be one of the bosses, given the sheer number of ravens which appeared in this chapter alone). As to why he's only "one of the bosses"? Well, the ultimate puppet-master behind the entire grand scheme—called the "Master of Death"—is only revealed by name. (And yes, if you've read the Harry Potter series you'll recognize this name, hinting that the mysterious person is a mage.) Heck, we don't even get to see him even up to now.**

 **Stay tuned.**


	20. Chapter 19

**Author's note:**

 **You can refer this chapter as "Chapter 18.2" because it is basically set at the same time as the last chapter, except it's going to be significantly shorter (11k words is absolutely not an easy task to accomplish).**

 **By the way, it's certainly great to know that you guys do support my story (the new reviews and followers/favourites are surely sweet). Many thanks, and don't worry, because the final act of this story will certainly not disappoint you.**

* * *

"There's Kha'zix. Sitting near the river."

The creature sat in the riverbanks, near the same river which Twisted fate had encountered during day time. He can be described as…a monstrously massive and terrifying insect, blood-red in skin colour, a pair of slender legs in his bottom and huge wings hung on its back. On the other hand, its giant, stretched out purple claws which glowed in violet colour didn't go unnoticed. There were also big white spikes on its back. His head was comparatively smaller, in the shape similar to a rhombus, and he had green glowing eyes in the front. Sharp teeth were also present in his mouth—though not nearly as threatening as Rengar's canines.

The creature who controlled these armies of voidlings, according to Rengar, was Kha'zix, commonly known as the Voidreaver. And he sure deserved that title, for Twisted fate was already scared of it just by its appearance.

"The river? Ah, I remember."

Unfortunately, the three of them were still miles away from Kha'zix in reality—all of the detailed descriptions of Kha'zix's appearance was in Twisted fate's mind only. Neither Rengar nor Ivern knew how Kha'zix looked now—perhaps Rengar had seen him before if their long history was true. Twisted fate was holding his Card of Destiny when he awoke from his spell and opened his eyes, seeing exactly the same sight—large trees, masses of fallen leaves on the floor, his gold card's glow, and the green glow coming from Ivern's fireflies, which flew beside the tree-hybrid as his companions.

"So you are telling me that Kha'zix is sitting near the river, right?"

"Yep."

"Ok. I will ready myself to stalk him very soon. Just remember, human, that you need not help me at all other than revealing him to me for the whole fight of me versus him."

Twisted fate nodded. It occurred to him that Rengar actually knew a lot about human culture—he knew the common tongue, knew their ways of speaking, and even knew how to cook (Rengar prefer cooked meat to raw meat strangely, but he used something else other than kitchenware which he did not disclose to the gypsy, and he only ate meat when he wasn't in the same forest as Ivern's). He would somehow believe that he was a man-transformed-lion than born as a lion.

"Are you a lion?"

That question seemed to puzzle Rengar slightly. He turned around, focusing his only blue eye on the gypsy's face.

Rengar was still intimidating as he displayed his abnormally long canines, but the Card Master knew the Pridestalker had no reason to hurt or kill him—he proved to be quite useful to him, after all. However, Rengar was still a bloodthirsty lion at the end, proved by the fact that he already wanted to kill him at first sight. Yet Rengar's offer was probably the only chance he could get to leave the forest in the shortest amount of time, as he still was unfamiliar with his surroundings.

"I was born as a lion."

Rengar's voice was also quite deep, probably combined with a human's voice and a lion's growl.

"Then why do you seem to understand humans so much? Or even imitate us?"

"I was born as a lion, but I was raised in the way of humans."

"Really? How exactly?"

"My true parents have never shown themselves to me—I have no idea who my parents are. But I can remember well that it was a human hunter who raised me up."

"Interesting."

"He taught me the way of survival, the way of hunting, the way of life. I absorbed his lessons, and with my feral instincts, perfected them. Of course, I was also exposed to his human habits, so I stood on two legs instead. The language I'm speaking right now—that's also taught by him."

That explained a lot about Rengar.

"The voidlings should be surrounding Kha'zix right now. Remember, just hold your ground and distract them as much as you can, until I get to kill that creature. When Kha'zix dies, so will the voidlings. You also have my word that I will take you to the College once I'm done here."

"Ok."

"Good."

They continued to venture further into uncertainty. Twisted fate had no idea how these Voidlings looked like, though if they could scare even such a ferocious Rengar away, they must be very dangerous. He didn't know if he could manage them, not to mention Rengar specifically said that the number of voidlings was "near infinite".

The thought of dark monsters reminded him of his lost groupmates, especially the Night Hunter. Where were they now—on their way towards the College? _Do they still remember me? Do they know I'm here? Or have they ultimately given up their mission?_ He had no idea. The only hope was that he would meet them sometime later.

Twisted fate's various thoughts were interrupted by an unpleasant voice from nowhere, similar to a raven's. The repeated "KRAA" sounds were certainly disturbing.

For some reason, the gypsy turned to Rengar without much thought. The white lion's paw reached into his belt (yes, this lion had a belt) and took out a bola, a classic hunter's weapon rarely seen and used by modern people. He tossed it into the air, towards the branch of a tree high up in the air. A loud thump was heard.

In front of them was a black bird, lying on the forest floor tied by the bola around its body.

"Ravens," Rengar growled. "Unlucky."

The image of Swain immediately came into the gypsy's mind.

"Rengar," Ivern said with a sense of worry. "That bird…it's—"

"It's not yours, Ivern. Check it yourself. I doubt there's any type of bird in this forest with the same look."

Rengar picked the bird up, slashed it swiftly, and handed it over to Ivern. Indeed, it was something never seen before—giant red eyes and black blood instead of the usual red.

"Normally I would have eaten it, but this is way too disgusting," he continued. "I've also noticed a rise in the number of these strange birds recently around the College. There must be something very weird going on inside that place."

"I'll be investigating into that," the Card master casually answered.

Just then, there came the sound of insects crawling in the distance, apparently in large numbers as they seemed to be everywhere.

"What…what is that?" The gypsy lost his confidence upon hearing that.

"Those creatures are not of this world!" Ivern panicked slightly.

"The voidlings. Definitely them." Rengar said firmly. "Get ready to fight, 'Wisted fate'. We shall meet soon."

With that Rengar's skin started to become less visible, and more transparent. In only a matter of seconds, the entire white lion disappeared into thin air, leaving no trace. Now even Twisted fate had no idea where he had gone.

 _Oh, wait. I have the almighty Destiny spell_.

He peeked into his own mind. It was revealed that Rengar was already 20 meters away, sprinting exactly like when he tried to stalk him a while ago.

 _He sure stalks like a true hunter._

But Twisted fate had no time to worry for Rengar. He had an "infinite" number of voidlings to deal with.

"Ivern, get ready for a tough fight."

"Well, sure. I shall try my best to protect my forest."

It was good to know that Ivern had returned to his cheery self.

Twisted fate first infused the Card of Destiny with mana, causing the orange eye on the card to glow in tangerine. With the card glowing, Destiny's ability to reveal would be put into effect, exposing Kha'zix to Rengar. His only job was complete.

The Card master then stared at his palm and focused. A stack of cards appeared between his fingers, which they flew into the air card by card, gradually starting to circle around the Card master. In a while blue, red, gold, green and all sorts of poker cards were in the air, circling around him in hundreds. Ivern backed off, not saying anything but curious about what Twisted fate was doing, but also aware of the danger the magical cards might pose. And there was no sign of him stopping.

Normally doing this would result in a very quick depletion of mana, as keeping cards floating was quite mana-consuming, but after all, he had the mana-regeneration energy force gifted by the golem a while ago, thus it wasn't a problem.

A purple-coloured, four-legged creature crawled out from a tree hollow nearby. It had a very skinny body with a triangular head—three glowing amber eyes on it. In terms of size, it was even larger than the spider he met a while ago.

It crawled down from the tree and onto the forest floor, towards the Card master and Ivern. Yet before it had a chance to attack, the gypsy pointed his finger at the voiding and subsequently one blue card flew towards the voidling in high speed, slashing right through its body. The voidling made an unearthly sound and collapsed with purple blood flowing out of its body this time.

"Purple blood…surely disgusting," the gypsy said in revulsion.

What came next was even worse. Countless amber dots emerged in the shadows, identical to the voidling's. They were everywhere as if all of them were staring at him.

Twisted fate commanded a gold card to fly into the darkness. As the glowing card dove in, the light revealed what the yellow dots belonged to—the exactly same voidlings. Except for this time, they came in numbers—colossal numbers. Some of these voidlings attached themselves to the bark of the trees, while others hung right below the tree branches. In short, the trees seemed to be purple in colour instead of its original brownish.

Upon being revealed by the light, the voidlings leapt from the trees towards Twisted fate in an attempt to attack him.

But Twisted fate commanded all the cards towards the looming threat of voidlings. Each of the cards flew towards the small creatures in unrivalled speed, slicing through their bodies without difficulty and simultaneously killing them while they were still in mid-air. The red cards landed on the tree barks, detonating into magical energy and dissolving their weak bodies into nothingness. Strangely, the voidlings made no attempt in dodging it, having seemed to had accepted the fact that they could not outrun the cards.

In the meantime, Ivern blew a sharp whistle. Above the ground burst out a huge rocky creature, just like the blue golem they had met a while ago. Its whole body was entirely made of stone, with a grassy bush on its top filled with white flowers—presumably Daisies—and red mushrooms. Moss grew all over its body.

The rocky golem who saved Twisted fate in the river just literally burst out from the surface and landed on its two feet, shaking the ground slightly.

"Meet my friend Daisy!" Ivern said with enthusiasm. "Have you met her before, my friend?"

"Well, technically I have already met Daisy, in the river."

"Ah, yes, I remember. How absentminded of me."

In a moment Daisy was attacked by the swarm of voidlings. They attached themselves to the rocky body, trying as hard as it could to bite through it. However, it was still made of rock, and rock was known for being so tough normally teeth would break upon biting it. The voidlings, at last, were no better.

In stark contrast, it took Daisy no more than a swipe of his arm to fend them off, throwing them to the ground with ease. Daisy then raised his foot and stamped onto the voidlings, reducing them into small pieces.

"That's pretty brutal, Ivern," the gypsy remarked.

"I'm trying my best not to harm any lives," Ivern replied. "But at the same time, I'll try my best to protect my friends in my forest."

"Ok."

The situation was still in control—any voidling who approached them were quickly killed by Twisted fate's cards. Together with Daisy's distraction, they were able to hold their ground. The Card master's supply of cards was everlasting, seemingly unable to run out.

Twisted fate then took a quick glance at the sky, for some reason. And there high up in the air were even more packed-up yellow dots. They were everywhere in the dark sky, replacing the stars. This made the gypsy startle.

 _What on earth are those—_

The dots suddenly grew bigger, and it was revealed that a huge swarm of voidlings were above their heads after all. They were tightly grouped up, stuck together to form an artificial "net", large enough to cover the entire vicinity around the gypsy. Together they created an extremely weird sound that was creepier than expected.

It was literally raining voidlings in the sky.

 _Dammit. The voidlings are really infinite! I can't hold on for that long._

Twisted fate commanded the cards to fly upwards instead, but what they could do was to kill a few voidlings alone or at the maximum kill a bunch of them with his red cards. Yet their numbers were mostly unchanged—there were too much of them. There was nothing Twisted fate could do before they land on his head and shoulders. He had no interest in learning what would happen next.

Before he could scream, however, he felt nothing that landed on his head or shoulders. The gypsy reopened his eyes and realized the voidlings did not magically disappear—they were magically blocked around 20 centimeters away from his body as if there was a forcefield which protected him.

Except there really was a forcefield.

"You ok, my friend?"

Twisted fate turned back to Ivern, who also seemed to have a forcefield. He stood in a transparent bubble with green stems, and on top of the bubble was a massive number of voidlings, wondering why they defied gravity all of a sudden. On the forest floor were also a massive number of voidlings, trampling on the bodies of their dead counterparts.

"I summoned a shield around the three of us. We will be temporarily safe from these creatures until this shield runs out."

"How long will it take for it to run out?"

"Unfortunately, it's only a little more than 10 seconds."

Twisted fate almost wanted to kill himself. On the other hand, Ivern's lightheartedness even in the tightest of conditions was truly inspiring.

 _Wait. I can teleport out of this place. Right now._

"We can teleport out of this place. Right now."

"Ok, sure. I'll follow your lead."

Twisted fate advanced towards the tree-hybrid and held his shoulder (the shield strangely allowed him in) before drawing out the cards for Gate.

"Have you teleported before, Ivern?"

"Never. This will be entertaining. A human who knows teleportation powers is surely rare."

Twisted fate quickly laid his cards on the forest floor, being surrounded in white light.

"Goodbye, disgusting voidlings. Hopefully never to see you again soon."

There was a flash of bright white light at the spot as the gypsy closed his eyes.

* * *

There were no longer trees and voidlings, their weird noises or the familiar forest floor. It was replaced by patches of green grass and the calm, comforting sounds of water.

They arrived at the riverbanks, the same river Twisted fate had encountered and the very destination that Twisted fate had planned beforehand, as not only was it the only place his mind came up with at first, but he was quite certain it would be free of voidlings. Just as he predicted, all was calm.

The sky was also no longer obstructed by the trees. The shining stars and moon were still insufficiently bright, but obviously better than a void sky.

Most importantly, the glowing card was still in his grasp.

"Ivern! We're here near the river! We should be safe for now—"

A sudden "pop" sound was heard near his ears.

"Woah!" The gypsy did not expect any sound out of the quietness. Just as he drew a gold card and prepared to defend, he saw Ivern lying on the grass floor a few meters away in a carefree posture, spreading his arms and legs as if he was on a holiday.

Or more likely, he was dead.

"Ivern! Ivern!"

The Card master hurried towards the tree-man, fearing for his safety. At once he felt his clothes being grabbed as his whole body was lifted into the air for no reason. He looked back and saw Daisy's rocky fingers on his clothes, while she stood right behind him.

As he was perplexed with why Daisy was holding his entire body in the air, she tossed him into the river not far away, into the shallow waters. The gypsy landed with a spectacular splash. Worse still, the water here was very cold when compared to downstream.

Fortunately for the gypsy, the water was shallow enough for him to easily reach the surface and scramble onto the river banks, albeit fully wet. The coldness was unbearable when his wet body left the water.

He was shivering so hard he couldn't bring himself to speak. He could only chatter his teeth uncontrollably.

In the distance, Daisy lifted Ivern up from the grass, helping him to stand properly. Ivern's orange eyes then glanced towards the gypsy.

"Sorry, my friend, but Daisy's quite protective of me. And she doesn't quite remember her allies, to be honest. Too bad that includes you. And the pop you just heard—that means the shield has run out. Nothing to be worried of."

Twisted fate felt a sudden urge to swear in front of Ivern. Which he did despite his constant shivering.

"What are you trying to say, my friend? Sorry, but I can't understand one word of yours. Did you say 'luck you'? That's grammatically incorrect."

"Grrrr…" It might be a good thing that Ivern could understand none of his words. Suddenly he saw a figure in the air behind the tree-man, with orange colour glowing around it. It was about to land right on top of Ivern.

"Watch out!" He managed to shout.

Ivern turned back just in time to see the looming figure. Daisy was faster though despite her size, and she intercepted the figure, causing it to hit her instead. The sound of rocks crumbling could be heard as Daisy's gigantic body came smashing to the grassy floor. The ground shook slightly.

Standing on Daisy's body was the blood-red Voidreaver that Twisted fate had dreaded. He watched it tear away Daisy piece by piece with its claws, digging rocks out from its body and throwing them aside. Moments later the golem was reduced to its head, which was a simple piece of rock with a bush.

To the Card master, it was absolutely terrifying to find out that Kha'zix's claws could stab into even the toughest of rocks and remain unscathed, not to mention he singlehandedly tore Daisy into pieces. As to whether Daisy was truly finished, he did not know—she was made of rock, after all. At the same time, the orange glow around Kha'zix's body was Destiny's effect—the power to reveal him so that Rengar could defeat him.

 _Where's Rengar, by the way?_

"No! You monster!" Ivern shouted, this time in anger. "How dare you hurt my Daisy!"

Kha'zix seemed to hear it because his head turned instantly from facing Daisy's remains to facing the gypsy. He seemed to had lost one of his green eyes, replaced by a hollow hole with purple blood still flowing out from it. There were also multiple scratches on his body, suggesting that his fight with Rengar did not go extraordinarily well. In fact, purple blood was still fresh on his body. His body was mostly deformed, unrecognizable of the initial Voidreaver which the gypsy had spied with Destiny.

 _Unless Rengar died, of course. Hopefully not. Wait. Why did he turn to face me? It was Ivern who said that! Not fair at all, monster._

Kha'zix made a sudden leap into the air just like a while ago towards the gypsy. Its wings were even more spread out so as to look more menacing.

Of course, Twisted fate had no intention of being torn into pieces like poor Daisy, so he dove left and narrowly dodged Kha'zix's claws. The Voidreaver landed on an empty spot instead. Unsatisfied, he fired a total of 6 white spikes on his shoulders as projectiles towards the gypsy.

But Twisted fate was also quick to react. He drew a blue card and threw it at the spikes. The card was way faster in speed, and thus once it destroyed a spike, it swiftly reached another one and destroyed it too. Before any of the spikes reached the gypsy, they were all eliminated. The card then flew back to Twisted fate's hand, who caught it with ease.

It was then that he noticed that Kha'zix used all of this as a distraction, and that he was advancing towards the gypsy all the time. Now the Voidreaver's deadly claws were only an arm's length in front of his face. And no matter how fast Twisted fate could react, his hand would never be quick enough to draw another gold card. The blue card on his hand was practically useless, as it did not have the stun effect as the gold card.

At that brief moment, Twisted fate thought this was all over.

However, luck was on his side. Kha'zix suddenly retreated, his body reverting the distance he had first covered. It was as if something had pulled him back. His claws were once less than a few centimeters away, but not any further.

It was quite shocking to Twisted fate, who thought he had died already. He looked at his hand, still holding the blue card. He himself, however, was free to move.

Twisted fate backed off step by step, realizing that Kha'zix was pulled back by tangled vines which were wrapped up on the creature's body and legs. Kha'zix himself was trying to move, but the vines pulled him back. The vines themselves came from inside the grass.

If anything, this was obvious Ivern's style. Indeed, Ivern was standing there, his hand pointing at Kha'zix as if he was the commander of the vines. Which he was.

Thanking Ivern by heart, Twisted fate drew out a stack of cards, ready to slice this creature into pieces using his own cards. But then he saw the vines breaking away from him. Kha'zix was, in fact, tearing the vines too now.

 _Dive to your right now, Wisted fate. Now._

 _Whose voice is that? Not mine._

Twisted fate still dived to his right regardless. As he completed a somersault and looked back, a large white figure could be seen in the air, diving towards Kha'zix right at the creature's front. The white figure flew past Twisted fate's head and landed right in front of Kha'zix just as he broke free from the vines. The two of them tumbled a few times on the grass, both of them rolling into the river with splashes.

As Twisted fate saw Kha'zix stand up from the water, recovering from the attack, he was punched in the face by a white fist followed by a number of slashes to his face. Among the splashes, a sword could be seen being used to stab into Kha'zix's body. The white figure—Rengar—then kicked Kha'zix right on his face with his powerful leg, sending him a few meters away.

"You will not escape from me, Kha'zix. You will fight until the end!"

Twisted fate heard strange voices at his back. Countless Voidlings appeared at the edges of the light range, swarming in with huge numbers. Most importantly, they were swarming towards Ivern, who looked unusually defenseless without his bodyguard Daisy.

"Ivern! Get out!"

Twisted fate readied a red card and prepared to throw it at the voidlings. Suddenly, the voidlings ceased moving. Like literally, they ceased moving at all. They originally scrambled pretty quickly, around two meters per second, but now they just froze as if time itself did.

Twisted fate checked himself to ensure that time did not indeed stop. Then the voidlings did something even more shocking—they collapsed concurrently at the exact same moment as if they were commanded by an invisible force.

"That is...quite convenient."

This, of course, raised a very obvious question—why did this happen?

 _The creature who controlled these armies of voidlings, according to Rengar, was Kha'zix._

Kha'zix. So did he die?

The gypsy shifted his gaze towards the river. Rengar was there staring at something in the water, while Kha'zix—significantly smaller in size than before—fleeing along the river away from the Pridestalker. His giant wings were gone, and his front arms lost the sharp, ferocious claws.

"Rengar! Why don't you finish him? He's right there!"

"No. Not today."

Rengar bowed down and picked up a body from the water—not a body in fact, but as Twisted fate noticed it was a large piece of shed skin, just like those from snakes. The lion then stepped out of the water, revealing his own wounds—red blood marks on his chest, arms, and a fresh scar on his forehead. Blood was still dripping out of his leg, leaving a red trail in the water and the grass.

"This is the mutated form of Kha'zix, right in my hands. Who knows how much dark power he had consumed for such evolution? He even grew bright red in colour."

The shed skin was red in colour—the wings were also part of it.

"This time, he has gone too far for power—I let him go so that he can recover and fight me again in the future, for I will continue to feel the Thrill of the hunt, and I have to make sure that I am the only one responsible for his death. No assists at all."

"Ok."

"The voidlings are all dead, Rengar. Our forest is saved," cheered Ivern.

"Good."

"So Rengar, last time I heard we had a deal," the gypsy remarked.

The lion's blue eye focused on the gypsy. He also deliberately displayed his canines right in front of the gypsy.

"What did you say, Wisted fate?"

"Ahem, I mean…take me to the College so that I can investigate in that place for you."

"Much better. Now climb on my back, human. I will carry you towards there."

The sky became dark blue in colour, signaling morning's arrival. Weak beams of light shone through the clouds.

"So, my friend, we shall meet next time. Good luck."

Ivern extended his hand to Twisted fate, who did the same. They shook hands.

"Same to you, tree-man. Oh, by the way, what will happen to Daisy?"

"Daisy? He's going to be fine. His soul lives even when his physical body dies, and so I can summon her next time, anytime I want."

"Good to know."

Twisted fate climbed onto Rengar's back. He was surprised that Rengar would carry him straight to the College all by himself. It was like he had free transportation. He waved goodbye to Ivern as Rengar started walking.

 _That was a…unique experience here in the jungle._

* * *

The morning light finally got the chance to shine upon this forest, after a very, very long night.

The group of four were on the straight road leading towards the College, the road which they had gone astray when the car crashed.

Vayne's blood scratch on her face was still there, unable to heal due to Jarvan consuming most of their remaining health potions. Lucian and Dale were relatively less injured, with only a few scratches or light wounds, but Jarvan was different—he was stabbed in the torso and legs multiple times by the Shadow ghosts, bleeding quite heavily, and if it wasn't for the sudden death of the dark creatures he would have easily died. Now he could heal back all of his injuries, but it would surely take time, maybe hours, to fully recover. The prince was optimistic, however, feeling grateful that he did not die whatsoever.

"Guys! Look what's in front of us!" Lucian suddenly called. The others reacted, wondering what Lucian was talking about.

In front of them was the end of the forest, and a huge valley awaited, separating two tall mountains of over 500 meters tall. Both mountains were heavily covered in vegetation, similar to the very bottom of the valley. Between the mountains was a very long stone bridge which the road led straight to, connecting the two mountains. And somewhere in the middle of the bridge was a large stone building with a steep roof and visible glass panes. It was also monstrously tall—its foundations were at the bottom of the valley, and yet the building went straight up to the same height as the bridge.

"This…is this…"

"This is the College. The College of Techmaturgy."

"So we managed to arrive here at all."

"Don't celebrate just yet. It is here that we face the toughest of opposition. If the Demon's portal truly lies here, then there will be stiff defenses. Our most challenging task begins only now."

* * *

 **Author's note: (again)**

 **Yep, and that was the very short version of the Rengar vs Kha'zix battle. (I wanted to lengthen it, but their rivalry belongs to a side story here) Anyway, the College arc shall begin and some…baddies will be introduced shortly.**


	21. Chapter 20

The College of Techmaturgy was surely a breathtaking view. Built in the middle of the valley and accessible by a long bridge, there was no surprise it became the most representative building of Zaun. There was also no surprise that it was one of the top schools in the whole of Runeterra, where students strive and work hard to earn a place in the College. The greatest scientists and inventors of Piltover and Zaun had all studied here in the College. Heimerdinger, the "Father of Hextech" as he was called, was once one of the students here. Theoretically, there should be a lot of students going in and out of the College.

But there was not a person at sight. If it wasn't for the modern-like appearance of the College, it surely would be mistaken as a long-abandoned place. A sudden gust of wind passed by, blowing up the dust that hid itself on the surface of the rocks of the bridge like a mini-sandstorm. Moreover, there wasn't a single noise around this place except the howling of winds. Very unusual.

"Shall we go in?" Lucian asked, breaking the silence. Jarvan was taken aback by the question—he was occupied by the spectacular view of the giant, hollow valley. "We're assuming this building is already sabotaged by the Noxians."

"Wait." Vayne was holding her Detector all along, pointing it at the College. "There's no sign of any monster in the building."

"Does that mean it's safe?"

"Not necessarily, but the risks are lower when dark creatures aren't involved," Lucian replied.

Vayne took out a rolled sheet of paper and opened it. It was the yellowish paper that was printed with the complete layout of the College in two-dimensional fashion.

"Hold on. I examined the map of the College, and there is a path that will supposedly lead to the Demon's portal as shown here. Its somewhere at the bottom of the building."

"The portal is right here? Then it's impossible that this building is unguarded!" Jarvan exclaimed. "They want to delude us into false security, and then strike us at our weakest." If his extensive experiences in battle had taught him anything over the years, it was that "deception is a great tool in successful warfare", and that the moment one gave away one's weakness would be the same moment that danger would strike.

"I have the same idea. But if we never step into the building, then we will never learn the truth. The grand scheme that Swain mentioned in the letter, the Demon's portal, and most importantly…your father's death."

"But, Lucian, we cannot just blindly step into enemy territory. Think about how many mines or bombs or traps of all kinds lie in there? Maybe Darius himself and the whole Noxian army is hiding inside! We don't know what truly lies behind those walls. We're probably the only ones who know their plot, so it's crucial that we don't die."

Lucian sighed.

"We've come so far, Jarvan, to the College. Sailed through the Conqueror's sea, drove out of Zaun from crazy police, broke our way through barriers of dark creatures…we've reached the point of no return. There is no guarantee that we can contact anyone in the College, and even if we could an attempt must be made to get in the building. No matter what, we have to get in the College. It's unavoidable. And if I saw that coming I would had asked for more help. Now it's forward or the end."

The Purifier was right. They didn't have much of a choice.

"I have my metal detector with me. If there are booby traps then they won't be a nuisance. We should be able to defend ourselves against any humans." Vayne assured.

Jarvan nodded. He felt adrenaline run through his body.

The four of them advanced towards the bridge. The bridge was wide, enough room for three carriages to pass concurrently side by side. Although currently there was sunlight and the atmosphere was way more pleasing than the darker version a while ago, Jarvan still kept on his guard. After all, no monsters didn't automatically imply "no enemies".

 _The only reason the College would run out of people would be an invasion. Something that would drive the students out of here. But why weren't there any news in Zaun about the College? Dale should be able to know if the students reached back to Zaun. If they didn't, then the only reason would be…the students didn't get to leave this place. Oh gods…could the Noxians have taken over this place?_

The bridge was long, and it took a few minutes for them to reach the gate of the College. Jarvan didn't risk going near the edges of the bridge. The entrance to the College was, naturally, futuristic in design. Glass automatic sliding doors stood in front of them, and through the glass was a massive hall with a chandelier hung at the ceiling, and white tables with television screens standing on it—something the prince had yet to see before. Walls and the floor were completely made out of marble, and its design was quite similar to those in hotels, albeit without the reception desks. Very distinct when compared to the more traditional colleges in Demacia—the usage of Hextech was explicit.

Again, everything seemed normal except the fact that no one was using the facilities at all. When Dale stood in front of the glass door, it didn't budge.

"The door's not working here," the driver said.

"Dale knows the most about the College. He comes here often," Lucian explained. "He knows how this place works."

"Why do you know so much about him? You met him before?"

"No, but we had a little chat in the car when you were asleep."

"Guys, we have to break this door down."

"Let me do it, Dale." Jarvan volunteered. He smashed his lance into the window, instantly breaking it into shards and giving way for the group to enter.

"At least no one will know I broke this. No need to cover up the costs, cause this type of material mustn't be cheap."

The hall was big, comparable with the one in the College of Magic.

"What do people do here?" Jarvan asked.

"This is the entrance hall. Students check daily messages from the school here with virtual screens displayed on the table."

"What does 'virtual' mean?"

"Um…that's a bit hard to explain at the moment. For one, it involves Hextech."

There was a store which sold drinks (with no one lining up, of course), and a zone with tables, sofas and armchairs in special shapes. There was also a large screen on the wall, which was completely black, not displaying anything.

Below the screen were glass doors once again, two glass panes enclosed in the marble wall. As Jarvan walked closer, however, he noticed that behind the glass doors was a room, enclosed entirely by glass. The view of the valley could be seen through the transparent material, including the bridge.

"What are these glass rooms for?" came the prince's inevitable question.

"Those aren't glass rooms. Those are elevators."

"Elevators? The one in the hotel?"

"Yep."

"Jarvan, you're so outdated."

"…"

"Don't be such a jerk, Vayne."

"Hang on, guys. I'll try to activate the elevator system."

Dale's face looked down to a small black screen beside the elevator. He seemed to be more confident currently without any ghosts or monsters around.

"Hey, Siri!"

"Hello, sir. How can I help you?"

A mechanized sound came from the black screen. A yellow line appeared on the screen, like those on hospital monitors.

"I want an elevator, please."

"No problem. Elevator one coming up."

The yellow line went up and down when the system spoke.

Jarvan felt something vibrate under his toes for a split second.

"Siri? Who is that? And who is talking?"

"Siri is the artificial intelligence system here in the College. It is just like a person except without the physical body. He is in charge of almost every single facility here—wait, the other elevators are just right on this floor. Why didn't he open the others—"

Suddenly there came the sound of the shattering of glass, albeit quite distant. The sound was brief, and it was gone as quick as it came.

The unexpected sound certainly scared Jarvan out of his wits, however, and he was trying his very best to hide it. His heart was beating madly and his held his lance even more tightly.

The yellow line on the screen disappeared without a trace. The black screen remained as black as it was initially.

On the other hand, Vayne and Lucian were unmoved by the sound at all. They just stood where they were, without any movement.

 _These two certainly are flawless in acting calm. I wonder how long they have practised for that._

Dale was, of course, shaking once again.

"What…what the heck happened? Siri—Siri!"

No reply from the screen.

"We will not take the elevator," Vayne finally managed to say. "Dale, are there other ways to reach the lower levels?"

"Um…yes. Right over the restroom there are the emergency stairs. We can use them to get down to the…control room, to check out what happened with Siri. It looks like now that he is unable to operate, for some reason…"

"Or maybe he is _**forced**_ to be unable to operate."

"…"

"Now that…is a terrifying possibility."

It could be likely that Siri had shut itself down. Or as Vayne suggested, someone deliberately turned off the system. No matter how much Jarvan tried to be optimistic, the latter always proved to be more believable than ever.

An unseen threat.

"Be vigilant, guys. We officially have an enemy right beneath us."

The group went towards the direction where Dale had pointed, which lead to a pathway labelled "restroom" and eventually to a spiral staircase. The bottom of the staircase could be easily seen—but it was very deep downwards. The staircase seemed to never end.

"Which floor is the Control room?"

"10 floors below us."

"Damn. That's quite a long way."

Beside the staircase was the glass that faced the valley directly. A crystal clear view, as if there were nothing that separated them from the outside. At one point Jarvan thought he could jump off the building from here.

He noticed only he and Dale made footsteps, and it was the sole sound in the entire staircase—Vayne and Lucian made none at all.

A while later, a hallway labelled with the number "10" was seen.

"The floors here go inversely? The highest floor is the first one?"

"Yes, since this design of the College itself is a bit…special."

The hallway was also made of marble, with multiple wooden doors along with handles and a small black screen underneath of each. There were no windows on the doors, so Jarvan didn't know what was behind them. Lamps were hung on the ceiling for every few meters, brightening the hallway up.

So far, not an enemy was to be seen—the College was empty, or so it seemed because the shut-down of Siri might possibly be due to someone. Hidden from sight, in that case.

"The labs are on this floor." Dale explained. "And by the way, the Control room is right in front of us."

There was a door with a sign "Control room—DO NOT ENTER".

"Unfortunately, we're going to ignore this sign," Lucian said. "Guess we're destroying a lot of property here."

Lucian aimed his gun at the door and fired. The wooden door blew up and descended into flames as it collapsed to the ground. Behind the door was total darkness.

Dale stepped in and flipped a switch nearby the door. Immediately the room was brightened, revealing it to be a large room, with a lot of computers on different tables, chairs and an exceptionally large black screen at the end of the room, taking up almost all the space of the entire wall. The light came from the ceiling, which turned out to be numerous light projectors.

The computers—Jarvan had only seen similar ones before, when a Piltover military general used it in Demacia during operations. This time it was a thin computer, with a black screen incorporated in a white monitor and a white keyboard in front of it. It appeared that the machine was not operating.

"I'll watch the door. You guys go figure out whatever's inside," said Lucian.

Jarvan took a quick look around and perceived that there were more than 50 identical computers in a single room. Impressive, in fact.

They had reached in front of the gargantuan screen. Again, there was a keyboard below the screen which resided on a relatively large stand. The length of the keyboard was as long as the screen, and thus other than the usual keys Jarvan recognized, such as "backspace" and the alphabet, there are others with different symbols that he did not understand.

Dale traced his fingers around the keyboard, key by key, until he stopped at a round red button at the edge of the keyboard

"What are we doing now, Dale?"

"I have to restart Siri. If we can restart him, all the facilities can be used once again, and the security cameras can be assessed. Any activity here is monitored at all times, and hopefully the data is still here."

"I thought he's shut down. How can you restart?"

"I'm trying to access the emergency back-up protocol. That will resupply the system with electricity."

Dale laid his index finger on the red button and pressed it without lifting for a few seconds. At first there seemed to be no change at all, as the screens were still black, but a while later the screen suddenly turned white in colour, while a black object was positioned right in the middle of the screen. The black object had an interesting shape, as it was shaped like a heart but not exactly the same. A thin line pointed upwards at the top of the object, and beside the line were two sharp-edged ovals.

"What's the symbol on the screen?"

"It's a peach."

"A peach? On a screen?"

"Yes. The organization that invented Siri is called 'Peach'."

"…"

An organization who associated itself with a fruit was surely intriguing.

"Why is it called 'Peach' then?"

"The head of the organization is an Ionian. In Ionia, peaches symbolize longevity, so my guess is they want their company to live long, perhaps."

"Hmph. Does everyone know the Ionian?"

"He's very famous and popular both in Ionia and Piltover. I guess his name doesn't reach the greatness of your nation, though."

"Don't worry, I believe technology is a good start. Do you mind telling me the name?"

"Oh. It's a 'he', and his name is—"

"System rebooted. Please insert your instructions," came a heavily computerized voice.

Dale returned to the keyboard with the alphabet and started typing very rapidly, pressing key after key with his fingers spread out.

"Give me a minute. I need to sort this out."

While waiting, Jarvan looked at the door. Lucian was there, leaning against the door while staring at his own guns as usual. Vayne was beside the prince, examining the keyboard with interest and curiosity.

"So Vayne, we haven't met any enemies up till now. Did you detect anything?"

"If I did, I would have alerted you. Now is not the case."

What if Siri really broke down because of itself? Because if it really was done manually, then the one responsible should strike them now. They were in a very vulnerable position, and Jarvan was half-expecting a surprise attack from nowhere.

"Artificial intelligence system reactivated."

A yellow line emerged from the giant screen, like the one beside the lift.

"Siri, I need recent security camera footage. Five days, perhaps."

"Please enter the passcode for this procedure."

Dale pressed a series of keys that Jarvan did not deliberately recite, because it was quite long. Suddenly, a screen appeared in front of Dale above the keyboard—a virtual keyboard in fact, as it was projected by blue light. Of course, Jarvan had never seen such things before and he had to "wow" when he witnessed it himself.

Again, Vayne didn't look surprised at all.

Jarvan had no idea what Dale was doing on the keyboard—he could only figure out that his fingers were "dragging" stuff in the virtual keyboard left and right, and occasionally tapping them.

 _Technology here sure evolves like a beast._

"I'm loading the footage. It should appear in a few seconds."

Jarvan turned to face the screen. It changed to a blurred screen, with lots and lots of grey like those on old televisions which he had once seen before.

An image was displayed on the screen. It was filming the hallway outside, which was noticeably absent of anyone or anything.

"Is this a video?"

"Yes. But there's no movement at all."

"I noticed that."

"I'm actually fast-forwarding the video, and still nothing changed."

"Probably watch the one showing footage of a few days ago. This place might have already been taken over for some time."

"I remember the day Gibson said the College started to have strange activity was around 12 days ago. We can investigate into that day," Jarvan suggested.

"Yes, sir. 12 days ago."

Dale continued his scrolling and dragging on the virtual screen. It was very convenient to own a security camera system—any activity could be monitored and it was an excellent way to keep places safe. Evidence could be easily found in these systems, used against criminals in the court. Jarvan had always wanted to introduce these modern concepts to a traditional Demacia—it was only a matter of "when".

"Here. Footage of 12 days ago."

This time, it was the overall view of the College, including the bridge—Jarvan guessed this camera was hung on a tree nearby the spot where they stopped briefly, as the image captured the entire view, as real as seeing it with his own eyes.

And he saw what was on the bridge—a line of military cars advancing towards the College. For a split second he was tricked into believing that the cars were there in reality, until he realized it was a 12-day old footage. The cars were easily distinguishable—Jarvan had seen these black vehicles before in a Noxian War-base. They were fully armored, running on wheels with two missile launchers on both sides. These menacing war machines surely packed a punch.

The cars reached the glass entrance. One by one, men climbed out of the car, dressed in black Noxian military uniform which shielded their whole body, not exposing any of their flesh. They held guns—machine guns, in fact—with swords on their waists. Jarvan noticed groups of them carrying sizable wooden crates towards the College.

The glass door opened automatically for the soldiers when they arrived. The men entered the College until what was left on the bridge were the empty Noxian cars.

"Dale, switch to another camera. I need to know what's happening inside."

"Yes, Madam."

Dale dragged and scrolled again. Then the screen transitioned to another view, this time displaying the area in front of the glass elevators, where the men stood.

"The College has already been taken over 12 days ago, it seems. Or else there couldn't be no one in the College," Vayne deduced.

The elevators arrived at the same time. The men went into the elevators along with their heavy load—the wooden crates.

 _I wonder what lies in those wooden crates._

The screen then switched to view inside one of the elevators, where the men stood. The elevator was almost purely made of glass, even including its floor. Still, Jarvan could not see the bottom of the elevator system.

One of the men reached for the buttons. It was then did the prince realize that there were a total of 50 floors in the College.

 _50 floors!_

 _What if the elevators broke down? People at the bottom of the building would take ages to get to the lobby!_

The man pressed the button labelled "50". That meant they were heading for the lowest floor.

The screen switched again to another view, this time also in front of an elevator exit but with the number "50" printed on a wall nearby. Jarvan assumed this was the 50th floor.

The prince waited. Theoretically, the men would eventually arrive at some point.

They did. When the elevator descended to the 50th floor, the men were still standing behind the glass door, void of any movement as the door opened. Jarvan thought the screen froze, until the men started to lift the wooden crate and leave the elevator.

The men ventured into the hallway. It was a hallway very similar to the one on the 10th floor, the one they were on. Again, there were multiple wooden doors with handles.

A little later, the men disappeared into the hallway as the camera stayed in its place.

"Dale, do you have footage of where they went?"

"I'm looking for it—it's here. I'll play it now."

The screen switched to another view—this time in front of a wall. The men were standing at the very end of the corridor, meeting a wall which obstructed them. In fact, it was a dead end, and they couldn't advance further.

But the Noxians had other plans.

One of the men had a greenish object in his hand. The others backed off from the dead end as the man placed the green object near the wall and ran away immediately. Seconds later, a fiery explosion followed, engulfing the camera in heavy smoke such that the view became severely obstructed.

Then the screen went black abruptly. Even the grey colour from the smoke disappeared.

"Wait—what happened?" asked the Prince.

"This camera is damaged and thus no further footage can be played." Siri explained.

"That's enough information we need," Vayne said. "The Noxians went to the 50th floor and blew up a wall. The footage ends here, but I guess we have a good idea where we will head to. It's also marked in the map." She looked at the map again. "The route points to the bottom of the building, then leads to the hallway, and…it points to the end of the corridor."

"Agreed," said the Prince. "Let's go down."

* * *

The prince wished he could use the elevator.

40 floors was not an easy task for even a sturdy person like Jarvan. When he reached the 30th floor he was already panting, and when he reached the 40th floor he had to stop and regain his breath. The other three took a break even earlier. What could have been done in less than a minute was prolonged to more than 15 minutes, thanks to a very unstable artificial system.

Of course, they managed to reach the 50th floor at last, but not without their legs worn out and tired.

"Hey, look!" Lucian said when he took a quick glance of the elevator. "That's what happened when we heard glass shatter up there."

In the place of the glass elevator was shards of broken glass, laying in pieces behind the glass door. The upper part of the elevator managed to stick together, but only in small portions.

"The lift dropped straight to the bottom," Vayne reckoned. "Must be a malfunction or something."

They headed into the hallway. There was no difference to the appearance of the hallway now to the one shown in the camera.

"This is another lab floor?"

"No. The 50th floor is one very few people go, as students are prohibited to reach here. You cannot press the button of the 50th floor without a passcode—only the professors and stuff are allowed."

They eventually reached the end of the corridor, the place where the footage halted.

And how different it was in stark contrast to the others.

A large hole remained in place of the wall. It was clearly the work of an explosion, as even the pieces of debris were left on the floor unattended. Behind the hole was something even more shocking—a dark passage leading deep into the unknown.

"A…a secret passage behind a wall?" mumbled Dale.

Lucian nodded. "Classic trick. That's why the Noxians blew up this wall." Then the Purifier took out his lantern and lead the way into the passageway.

Turned out that the passageway wasn't long, as the end of the passageway was no more than a few meters away from the entrance. Interestingly, the walls in the passageway were also made of marble, identical to the one outside.

At the end of the passageway was a metal door—sliced in half by a straight line in the middle. Or was it an ordinary door?

"That's very similar to…an elevator door," said Jarvan. "Isn't it?"

"Quite alike, if you say so. Hey look, there's a button here."

Beside the door was a small round black button. It was fairly hidden and it was only revealed when Lucian held the lantern close.

 _A button? Is it safe?_

The others seemed to have the same thought. Jarvan looked at Vayne, who was contemplating while staring at the button. She looked at the map again.

"This is why the arrow points at the end of the corridor…then I suppose anything here is safe, or else Swain wouldn't have given a flawed instruction card to the General."

"But we don't know if they're aware of us. Just now you mentioned the possibility that someone deactivated Siri, so the very person could had set this up as a trap."

"Hmph, you're right. But we can test it out."

A while later the four of them stood far away from the metal door outside the secret passageway, while Vayne loaded her crossbow, stretching her arm back. Her target—the button, was illuminated by the lantern below it. She released, launching a silver bolt into the passageway and landing directly on the button.

"Did it hit?" asked Jarvan. "It did. But all seems calm now—"

The next second he saw the metal doors move sideways. As they moved aside, it revealed another room behind the doors.

Curious, Jarvan walked forward into the passageway. The room was quite small, with square walls and also built of metal. But Jarvan noticed a thin gap between the room and the passageway—it was black and hollow.

"This is…another elevator?" Dale exclaimed as he saw the sight.

"An elevator again?"

Dale walked into the room.

"Yep, the design is exactly like an elevator. There are four buttons here, 'open', 'close', '50' and '100'."

"50 is…the name of this floor." Vayne deduced. "And 100 is…it might mean that there is another floor this is leading to. Very deep, in fact."

"100…does that mean the distance is the same as the whole building?" Jarvan dropped his jaw. "That's…very deep."

What can possibly be there on the hidden 100th floor?

* * *

 **Author's note:**

 **Unfortunately, I do not have any Apple devices. Anyway, an elevator that leads deep, deep into the ground! Mysteries…could it be that the massive army of unholy creatures, together with the Demon's portal, all lie under their very toes?**


	22. Chapter 21

"An elevator that leads deep. I don't know if it can be trusted, even after so much time for thought."

It was a few minutes later after the discovery of the mysterious elevator. Dale wasn't exactly comfortable with this, so he decided to return back to Zaun since he deemed himself unworthy and unprepared for the potentially dangerous mission ahead. Jarvan led him to the garage upstairs, where the driver gained access to one of the electronic cars and activated it successfully. The prince waved gave his thanks to the driver for his contributions, and waved goodbye to him as he drove away onto the bridge and back home. The prince assured him that no monster would attack him mid-road because 'no monster would roam at the light of day', which was itself a decent excuse.

And it was quite some time later did the three Demacians finally reunite at the bottom of the building once again, in front of the queer and unexplainable metal elevator exit that was hidden behind a fake-wall and seemed to lead very, very deep into the ground. The elevator door was still opened unexplainably, and never closed even after such a long wait as if it was trying its best to tempt them to step into the lift.

"It's exciting stuff for me. Haven't had this kind of thrill for a while. The mystery, the strangeness, so many things that draw me to here. I'm taking the elevator, no matter what," said Lucian.

"Lucian might seem a bit rash, but if we don't take the elevator then we might never get to the bottom of this," added Vayne. "There must be something more about this secret passage if it was intentionally built behind a wall and was never disclosed to the College. Some secrets, possibly, that is integral to Swain's plan. The Noxians blew up the wall themselves—it's very possible that they have taken the lift down."

"Hmph. Both of you are kinda right. I guess I have no choice but to follow, and without Dale we can be a little bit more reckless in our actions, because we don't have to carry extra burden. Well then. The door is waiting for us. Let's step in, shall we?"

The three walked into the metal box, and the prince pressed the "100" button and the "close" button before the doors shut themselves and cut off their way back to the College. They were cut off from the world, and soon would step into unexplored territory.

Seconds after the door was closed, there came sounds of metal screeching around them. Then there was an abrupt movement that jolted the entire lift. Stability resumed in a short while, and all was calm once again.

"What happened?"

"I guess the lift tried very hard to move. It's made of metal, after all, so it could be assumed that this lift isn't as technologically advanced as the ones in the College. I still wonder why such an old and outdated lift remains here, though."

The lift was strangely quiet, but Jarvan dared not rest as he kept vigilant, readying himself for a potential confrontation with whoever was on the 100th floor, all while holding the lantern which was the only light source in the whole lift.

The possibility that groups of Noxian soldiers, or potentially a huge squad of them waiting for their imminent arrival right below their feet was daunting. Sure, the three of them were tough and difficult to fall in battle, but even the mightiest of heroes would fail at some point. Jarvan was already feeling tense the moment he entered the lift, but his heart only beat more quickly as time passed by. The regret of stepping into the point of no return emerged from his heart, only growing larger and larger.

Another sudden jolt came, shaking the entire lift, but having expected it already Jarvan stood still. There was a moment of silence followed by the opening of the doors. Vayne and Lucian quickly grabbed their weapons and pointed them towards the doors, ready to respond to any potential enemy.

As the doors slid aside it unveiled the darkness behind it. The prince held the lantern and stepped out of the elevator. It was revealed that outside the lift was a dark hallway, again, but its walls built of stone bricks instead of marble. It was a small round tunnel with a flat floor, its ceiling only slightly higher than Jarvan's helmet. The tunnel seemed to have no end—or the light was too weak.

Lucian widened his eyes and looked around.

"A tunnel. I expected something like this. Endless walking in the College. I'm putting on my night-vision goggles."

The three journeyed into the unknown while the metal doors closed behind them. The air here was substantially different, and when Jarvan sniffed the air he identified as the smell of…rotten eggs? The smell wasn't strong, but definitely was weird.

"This doesn't look like a tunnel leading to a large war base. The corridors here are so small it can't fit more than two people at any given spot," Vayne explained. "Troops will find it difficult to pass through, and they will surely be annoyed by the design of the lift."

"True. This looks like a secret passageway to me," speculated the Purifier. "Why is it built under the College? No idea."

Jarvan looked around. There certainly wasn't anything special with the walls or layout of the tunnel. The road kept leading towards a straight direction, and he already couldn't see the metal doors who supposedly was behind.

"What's that?"

Jarvan turned around, seeing Lucian pointing at something on the wall. On the wall were four different symbols in green, clearly and neatly written.

"9—0—T—Z?" The prince muttered out the words. "What is that exactly?"

"These combinations…never seen them before. There are lots of possibilities," said the Night Hunter. "We don't know what it means for now, but it might be useful to remember them just in case. Just by looking at it, there is a high chance that it's written by a human being."

"Then that might suggest that someone has been here after all. Or right here at this very moment."

The unexpected appearance of human proof was quite unsettling, in a sense. The human might either travel up with the elevator, or had never, never left this place and stayed here for eternity. If he was still alive, who knew what would his or her appearance be?

"Guys, it's the end of the tunnel," announced Vayne. "Let's see what awaits us ahead."

The walls disappeared a few meters away, leaving a blackish hole in place. But as Jarvan advanced nearer he saw the pathway disappearing at the same time.

It turned out that they were standing at the edge of a circular hole, and outside the hole was a very, very large tunnel, its ceiling at least four meters higher than him and its walls at least eight meters apart from the other side. The circular hole was the connection point between their tunnel and this larger tunnel. The walls were still made of stone bricks, but on the floor were puddles of water, split from each other.

Suddenly a scent caught Jarvan's attention. Not just any scent—very similar to the one in the tunnel. Except it was way stinker and more pungent that the original, irritating his nose in an instant such that Jarvan was forced to instantly pinch his nose.

"What is that smell? I can't stand it!"

This time, Vayne and Lucian chose to oblige, doing the same. Vayne was searching for something at her back with her other hand. Even they couldn't stand the smell.

"If you ask me, I believe that this smell is very alike to those from sewers."

"Sewers? You mean this place is a—"

"Yep, this tunnel, in fact, leads to a sewage system."

Vayne looked rather strange—this was probably because of a certain black thing which replaced her nose, though still in the shape of a nose.

"What's that on your nose, Vayne?"

"That's a nose-filter. With this I can filter any odor in the air and breath in freshness."

"….you do have some really practical gadgets, Vayne."

"And here, Lucian, is yours," Vayne said as she handed over a duplicate of the black thing to him. "Or which of you two need it more?"

"I don't need it. In fact, I'm perfectly fine breathing at this moment," said Lucian.

"So do I," said Jarvan. "Save it for yourself, Vayne. We men do not need these things."

Vayne did not reply. They took one step down to enter the larger tunnel. Now they had to decide whether turning left of right would be more appropriate, as the tunnel led two sides and there seemed to be no end, at least for now.

"Left or right, guys?" asked Vayne.

"Hmph. Why not right. Because I'm right-handed."

"That's a very lackluster way to decide stuff, Prince Jarvan." Lucian answered. "Guess what, I think left is better because there are less water puddles on the left side of the floor—"

There came a sound in the distance, apparently echoed repeatedly as it reached their ears. It was quite close to the sound of metal dropping to a surface. Or it could be compared to the sound of a coin when it dropped to the floor and re-bounced or spun numerous times before it eventually stopped its movement.

Obviously this sound hinted that there was some movement of metal in the left side.

And metal would never move itself.

The three of them looked at each other, then towards the left. The light did not shine on anything special, however, and everything seemed calm despite of the preceding disturbance.

"That was…unexpected."

Someone was at the left side of the tunnel. And the thought of "someone" lurking in the unknown reminded him of the "someone" who disabled the lift back in the College. Was this "someone" responsible for both actions? If so, then it would be haunting that the "someone" was following them all along, even to the depths of the College.

Who was this "someone"? And why hadn't there been any reveals?

To Jarvan, the voice was a clear message. If they turned left, there was a high chance that they would meet the "someone" straight on. The stakes were high. Yet his choice was simple and logical.

"Where should we go, Jarvan? It's your call," said Lucian, handing over the leadership to the prince.

The prince smirked. After all, only an idiot would choose to step into danger voluntarily.

"We're going left."

Sometimes only idiots would have the courage to save the world.

* * *

The pungent smell gradually became more tolerable. To Jarvan, at least.

They kept walking forward into the tunnel—a dried-out sewer, it seemed. Jarvan noticed that the puddles of water did not contain pure water at all—the water produced a very abnormal smell and it wasn't even transparent, even under the light. It looked slightly green, in addition. Occasionally he witnessed some common sightings in a typical sewer—rats and crawling insects of all sorts. Worse, Jarvan couldn't even recognize them, since they were totally unrecognizable by appearance, so disgusting that even he dared not stare at them for long.

At one point Lucian reminded them of a certain rat in Demacia.

"These rats here remind me of that gigantic, horrible, stinky rat I met near Vayne's house. The same one as you met, Vayne. Could it be here?"

Vayne looked at Lucian.

"I was wondering about that—seems that you share the same view. It might be a possibility."

"Just think about it—someone might be manipulating our actions. The destruction of the lift, the shut-down of Siri, and we've never seen the one who's responsible. One reason of why we couldn't see him might be because we can't _**physically**_ see him. He's invisible."

"What? You're implying the rat might be here?"

That struck some fear into Jarvan's heart. The rat had a very terrifying reputation, due to Vayne and Lucian's vivid and detailed descriptions. And so far, the descriptions were never positive. After all, who could realistically fight an enemy that cannot be seen?

"I doubt he can travel from Demacia to here earlier than us. But it's better to keep guard."

"If he's here, I will burn the rat with my guns. He won't survive a second time."

"Just in case, I have the antidote for his poison. I brewed it the day before we left, and I'm quite sure it will work."

"I see the preparations you have made for the trip, Vayne. Certainly well-prepared enough. By the way, why is there water in our way?"

The three had reached a junction point, standing on a platform where the tunnel split itself into three separate pathways. Each of them were as high and as wide as the original. The entrance of the four tunnels, including theirs, were joined by a single room, also large in comparison. There was water dripping down from above, from a pipe high up in the ceiling that was only revealed when it was shone by the light. However, the floors of the room and the three tunnels could not be seen, as they were submerged in water. The water did not flood their tunnel simple because the water level was very slightly lower than the platform's level, which meant the two floor levels were different. The water was brownish in colour, and calm without any ripples.

"Water…typical sewer. So does it mean we have to swim now?" asked Jarvan.

"We have to check the quality of the water first. Swimming in poisonous water can be fatal." Vayne said as she held something in her hand.

"What is that?"

"That's something used to test for any substance in water."

In her hand was a dropper with purple liquid. She held in on top of the water surface and squeezed the dropper, ejecting a few drops out of it. Jarvan sometimes wondered just how could Vayne store so much gadgets all by herself.

"If the water is pure, the colour will stay purple. It it's contaminated, the colour will change to red. And if it contains substances that are not harmful to us…" she stopped as she examined the colour of the water where she dropped the purple liquid.

"—then it will turn into yellow."

Jarvan looked at the water, which was currently turning into yellow. Not the entire pool of water, but the water surface nearby Vayne was yellow—outside the spot it retained its original brownish colour.

"So this water…has some substances, according to the test. But they are harmless."

"Supposedly yes, Jarvan."

"I'll step in and try it myself," announced Lucian as he pulled up his trouser legs and slowly dipped his left leg into the water causing ripples to form on the water, disturbing the surface.

"I can touch something hard. Let me move over—wait, it feels like the floor we're standing on. The water level isn't too high."

Lucian then placed his other leg into the water, realizing he could stand properly in it. The water level was at the middle of his calves.

"I'm feeling fine here. Don't worry, only our legs will be wet. And the water is definitely safe."

Jarvan nodded. Having witnessed what the Purifier did, he too stepped into the water. As Lucian had said, the water was shallow. His leg armor prevented his physical self from being wet, and he couldn't feel the sensation of water. But that might be a good thing.

The water splashed as Jarvan walked farther away and into one of the tunnels, still grasping his lantern, while Vayne entered the water herself. The pungent smell here was less significant, as the water did not produce any weird scents. He couldn't see his own feet in the water as it was too murky.

"It's split again. Which way this time?" Jarvan's sound echoed all over the place.

"Let's just go left. I don't think it matters much at this point," answered Lucian, already walking towards the left tunnel."

"Guys, hold on a second."

It was Vayne. Jarvan looked back to see her holding the metal detector this time and holding it right on top of the water.

"Something wrong again?"

"Something was detected around here," she replied, suddenly slipping her other hand into the water, with the crossbow hung at her back. She seemed to be trying to reach something in the water, her arm constantly moving in the water until she finally drew her arm out.

"What's that?"

"A small piece of metal."

Indeed, a small piece of metal was in Vayne's wet palm. It was triangular-shaped, around four inches long and had a sharp end.

"This looks very alike with teeth. Wait, does that mean…"

Lucian stopped walking. Vayne, having realized what Jarvan meant, drew her golden crossbow. Jarvan himself really wanted to scream at the moment. He had a sudden urge to immediately dash out of the water.

"I won't exclude any possibilities. Even if it seems bizarre."

The Purifier turned back and walked back to Jarvan's place, glancing around much frequently. He also held his gun more tightly.

"You're saying that a creature is in the water, Vayne?"

"Just stay together."

The three of them stood back-to-back.

"Keep the water surface calm. The water's shallow here, so if the creature's around it will surely create ripples."

"Understood, Detective."

Soon the water surface became peaceful. Jarvan, Vayne and Lucian just stood there, watching the water within the range where the lantern shone. It became absolutely silent and only the room was bright, as the light could not shine on the tunnels. It only made the ambience even more terrifying.

"The water's calm. Are you sure that is an actual teeth? Or just a piece of metal which is shaped like one? It's just triangular shaped."

"It might. But it won't end up here for no reason."

"Silence! I think I heard something!"

Jarvan and Vayne stopped talking. Lucian elbowed their shoulders and ushered them to look at one of the entrances of the tunnels. It wasn't noticeable, but there was that slightest of disturbance on the water surface caused by ripples.

"See that?" whispered Lucian. "That's not caused by either of us. Shall we fire?"

The next second he saw a silver bolt flash across his very eyes, straight towards the spot where he initially pointed. It landed, triggering a huge splash of water in front of him.

Except the splash wasn't caused by the bolt. At least technically, because immediately afterwards a giant black creature emerged among the splashes simultaneously.

Lucian did not wait, however, to inspect the creature any further. He pointed his guns at the creature and fired eight shots, bombarding the entire sewer with sounds and igniting the creature instantly. The creature screamed—or roared, since it was low-pitched—and it was then did Lucian finally recognize its features.

The creature turned out to be a black giant crocodile. A very typical one in fact, with a long and narrow jaw and thick skin with bumps. It lunged at Lucian, ignoring the flames burning on its face.

Jarvan stabbed right at its snout right before it managed to hit Lucian, who had shifted aside, piercing through its throat and its head. Seeing that the crocodile had stopped moving, the prince raised the lance, causing its head to be dragged upwards while its body laid in the water. The crocodile's body became an L-shape.

"That was very…swift of you, Vayne. I wouldn't draw my weapons that quickly."

Vayne ignored Lucian, walking over to the crocodile. The first thing she did was to check its teeth.

"It's teeth is made of metal. Same as this one."

"So that piece of metal belongs to this crocodile. Metal teeth. What crocodile has metal teeth?"

"Its metal teeth were implemented on. Forced into its jaw with scientific means. A surgery, perhaps. It's artificial."

"An artificially-enhanced crocodile? That's a first time."

"This crocodile's huge." Jarvan said as he tried to measure the creature's length. The creature itself was bleeding from its wound. "Three meters! I've never seen one past two. Surely it can't grow this big just by living in the sewer alone!"

"Certainly not. Though if it can have metal teeth then I have no guarantee that it lives completely alone," Vayne replied.

"You're right. That raises a lot of questions…"

The prince turned to see just in time the brownish water near the platform transforming into the colour of green in an alarming rate. It spread for meters in only a matter of seconds, and it wasn't long until the three of them were surrounded by greenish water.

"Geez—what is that?"

Lucian also noticed the water change. He first looked surprised, then his face altered to one of a petrified person.

"The green water—it's—cough*cough—"

Lucian couldn't finish his sentence for he started coughing violently, covering his mouth with his hands. Jarvan smelled something strange—a smell similar to rotten apples or garlic, but amplified by more than a hundred times. Unable to stand the smell, he immediately pinched his nose again, but couldn't due to a sudden urge to vomit. He covered his mouth with his hand, just like Lucian, and dropped the lance so that the crocodile splashed into the water again.

Vayne, too, could smell the rotten apple scent, but wasn't as affected due to her nose filter. However, she already knew what was happening. Holding her crossbow, the Night Hunter examined her surroundings, searching for the figure she knew she had met before.

"Twitch."

No one else was in sight. Other than two men who were currently feeling extremely unwell, there was no one else. The platform was empty.

But there was something new on the surface of the water nearby the platform. A glass bottle floated on the water, and when Vayne looked closer she realized it was an empty one.

Vayne guessed the rat might be invisible, as Lucian had said. She wanted to save the other two first, but was afraid that the rat would act first, risking their lives. If he chose not to ambush now, it meant that there was a significant chance they wouldn't be attacked in the meantime. She could locate the rat first, and eliminate him.

If only could she find the rat!

Vayne was thinking fast in her mind. The only tool she could use right now was her night-vision goggles. But could night vision locate invisible things?

Shadows. Even if he was invisible, he would still leave behind shadows unless his invisibility was by magical means. In that case, no trace would be left behind. But Vayne's detector showed no sign of magic used in the sewers, up till now. Which meant the invisibility used by the rat was by non-magical means.

Yet she knew that invisibility could never be perfected using any means other than magical ones. The invisibility used by the rat had flaws. And leaving shadows behind was very possibly one of them.

Luckily, Jarvan was still holding the lantern despite feeling unwell, so Vayne could see every wall clearly. Her eyes scanned for shadows on the walls or ceilings, searching for clues for the possibly position of the rat.

And on one wall she saw the shadow of a person with a sharp head, clearly not theirs. She knew she had hit the jackpot.

As she tried to pinpoint the rat's true location by using the shadows, however, there was one problem.

The light went out.

Suddenly Vayne could see nothing. Total blackness. It was very, very rare for even night-vision goggles to go totally black, thus shocking her for a split second. She took off her glasses, confirming that it was the lantern that went out. It was.

There was a limitation of her goggles—it wouldn't work if it was given no light at all. On the surface there was moonlight. But in a sewer hundreds of meters deep, and with so many tunnels, it was literally impossible for any external light to be available here. Therefore, their lantern was the only one light source—and without it, all possibilities of seeing could be thrown out of the window.

Vayne fired her crossbow, launching her crossbow at the point she initially guessed, though quite sure she would miss. As expected, the rat did not scream in pain, and the sound of the bolt hitting the wall was a clear enough answer to her.

"Can't believe you could have killed me if I gave you more time. Right decision by me."

Vayne growled when she heard the voice—a sharp voice that also echoed across the place. She didn't expect the rat to speak.

"We meet again, human. I thought you were finished in Demacia. Well then, I shall introduce myself to you properly—my name is Twitch! Bow before your king!"

In desperation, Vayne released another silver bolt at a random direction. It hit the wall.

"Ow! That almost caught my tail!"

Vayne immediately fired another shot. Again it hit the wall.

"Hold on, I was just kidding! You're miles away from getting me. Give up!"

 _Dammit. I can't believe I was fooled by a rat._

For some reason, it was now did she hear Lucian's and Jarvan's sounds—ones that gave away what they were doing. It wasn't pleasant.

"You won't disturb me again without that light of yours, human. Now I'll watch as you enjoy breathing in the fresh smell of my green juice—or even drink it. It's all yours!"

Vayne clenched her teeth, enraged by the fact that she was defeated by a rat. A rat!

Twitch laughed again like a maniac. Vayne knew her nose filter would eventually be unable to stand the poison for long, and if she wanted to stay conscious, the antidote must be consumed. Indeed she was holding it right in her hand, but what could she do under Twitch's watch?

The poisonous water she was standing on would eventually spell her doom. And she could do nothing to stop it.

"You killed my crocodile friend here. You know how much effort I have put into feeding the crocodile? And you will pay for killing my friend. How dare you!"

Vayne looked up again. She held one of the deadliest weapons in Valoran, and yet it was absolutely useless in this situation. How ironic!

She was so pessimistic that she neglected the sound of someone collapsing onto the floor in a distance. The Night hunter was still thinking methods to get out of the tight situation, but knew that she was fooling herself with seemingly optimistic ideas.

All of a sudden, the place lightened up. Surprised, Vayne took a glimpse around to see what was actually going on.

The rat collapsed to the ground, revealing a gold card stuck on its head. The Night Hunter growled at the sight of the rat, the rat which fitted Lucian's descriptions. He was as tall as a human, part of the grey fur hidden under a torn brown waistcoat, and his sharp snout below a pair of lab glasses. His triangular teeth were small yet visible, and his ears were identical to those of bats. He also had a raccoon's tail. It seemed that the rat was a hybrid.

A gold card flew towards her and hovered above her, brightening her and the other two. Both Jarvan and Lucian still had their heads near the surface of the water, their mouths opened. They pressed their hands against their lungs, breathing hard as unknown mixtures sunk into the green water right below them.

Vayne stood shocked, incredulous, unconvinced, And behind the rat's body, stood the most unexpected person she would expect in the sewer. The person who abandoned them in Piltover, and went missing for days. The only mage in their group.

"Hold on, partner. You're saved."

* * *

 _A man was standing on the stones of the bridge. He adjusted his black hat as another gust of wind passed by, which almost blew it off his head._

 _There was no visible living creature around the vicinity. It turned out that all expectations were defied, and there wasn't even a single enemy who awaited him._

 _Twisted fate had never seen the College himself, and thus he had to stand still and observe the giant valley and the stone building itself, even if he had been here for more than five minutes already since Rengar carried and left him there._

 _At last he decided to take action. He drew out his cards, flipped them and looked at the bridge, then the glass entrance. On paper, the entrance was a mandatory spot for anyone to enter the College, as it was the only available way in—the College was enclosed almost entirely with steel walls, and it was assumed that nobody would choose to fly down the bridge and enter the College by the windows._

 _But he is the Card Master, after all. How could he be restricted by such means?_

 _The Card of Destiny glowed with mana in his hand. The gypsy closed his eyes and soon an image formed in his mind._

 _An image is formed. That means…someone's around._

 _Oh? Someone's around? Who's that?_

…

 _Didn't expect you to reach here this early._

* * *

 **Author's note:**

 **Dark places give me creeps. Seriously. (I'm probably not the only one though) I would never want to cross paths with a sewer rat. Especially those with poison!**

 **Twisted fate saves the day at last. I almost forgot he is the main character, y know, so had to give him some credit.**


	23. Chapter 22

"Who is this black guy anyway?"

The Card Master stood in front of Lucian who held a dropper in his hand, squeezing the crystal blue liquid inside into his abnormally dry mouth. The Purifier wasn't in good condition—his pale face and green lips suggested so—and the antidote, in the form of a blue liquid, was the only way to heal him from the poison inflicted on him. Had Twisted fate not interrupted, Twitch would have killed the three of them solely by poison—the toxic smell could be lethal if breathed in for a prolonged time.

"He's, um, Vayne's partner."

Jarvan was leaning against the wall nearby, having drunk enough antidote for him to be conscious again and able to speak fluently without vomiting.

"You don't seem to enjoy the poison a lot."

"Disgusting smell. This poison's able to set off all your panic buttons in your brain. Never have I felt a headache, a stomachache, muscle aches, fatigue, dizziness and anything negative you can think of all at the same time."

"You must be joking. You don't even have a single scratch."

"Trust me, go and try to stay in that water for more than a minute. I bet you won't live through that."

"The poison's deadly, but it isn't corrosive. It's the smell that counts," Vayne said as she watched Lucian.

"Anyway, back to the main point. Wait, Vayne has a partner?"

"Well, that's what they told me. I had always thought that she worked on her own! That comes as a surprise to me, seriously, and possibly to anyone in Demacia."

Twisted fate contemplated for a while with his thinking face. Then, suddenly, an idea came to him such that his eyes brightened. Then he cast a look at Vayne which suggested that he had some…intentions she would not appreciate.

"I can relate that…to something. A certain event that happened in Demacia."

"Really? What's that?"

Jarvan looked quite curious of what the gypsy had to say. On the other hand, Vayne didn't seem too happy about it, for she crossed her arms and glared at the gypsy. A very deadly glare, in fact, as Twisted fate felt uneasy when he looked back at her sunglasses. Her fists balled up.

"We shall leave that for the next time, shall we? It's certainly not the best time to talk now, right?"

He gave a reassuring yet mischievous smile, trying his best to shrug off Vayne's glare.

"By the way, Twisted fate, my sincere thanks for your assistance in our darkest times. But how did you even manage to get here? Where were you back in Zaun?"

"Long story. I'll explain later."

"As you wish. Lucian, you're better now?"

"I think I will be fine," replied Lucian as he coughed a few times yet again. "Though it's a surprise to me that I can meet you in person."

"Sure it is."

"Anyway, I think I'm feeling better now. Let's go deeper in."

"The water's contagious, Twisted fate. You need to drink the antidote so that you can walk through that water."

"Ok. No stomachaches and headaches for me today."

After the gypsy took in a few drops of the antidote, the four of them re-entered the water, unaffected by it this time. The crocodile's dead body laid there, surrounded by a pool of red water. Twisted fate cast a glance at the crocodile, which made him tremble for a second.

 _The size of that crocodile, though._

"We take left?"

"Ok."

"The smell's still significant, but I can manage it. Now, Twisted fate, tell us your story."

And so he did while they ventured into the dark, with Twisted fate holding a glowing card to illuminate their path. He talked about the mysterious teleportation which took him to a forest, how he fell into a river and almost got killed, how he met a tree-hybrid called "Ivern" and a lion called "Rengar", and how he had a bargain that ultimately sent him to the College. The most bewildering part, of course, was how Twisted fate had been so close to the three of them and yet none of them had any idea about it.

"The dried-up blood pool belongs to you?" asked Jarvan in disbelief.

"Yep, so far as I recall."

"Damn. We're closer than we imagined."

"You also were attacked by dark creatures?"

"Yep."

"Were they ghosts that look like smoke?"

"No. They were purple spiders that had yellow eyes. Probably from the void."

"That's weird. We had a different kind of company."

The whole tunnel was flooded, and as they walked further away they realized the water wasn't as brownish as before. Not crystal-clear, but at least not as murky such that they couldn't see anything under the water. The clearer water also comforted Jarvan in a way, since he could see anything lurking in the water—including giant crocodiles.

"It's not as dirty over here—interesting," mused Jarvan.

"I have suspected for some time of why the poison had spread so quickly back there. It might be because of that brownish substance in the water."

"Why is that, Vayne?"

"I suspect the brown substance is used to speed up the spreading process. Someone deliberately left it in that pool of water."

"That rat is surely cunning. I severely underestimated him."

As they turned a corner towards the right, Twisted fate, noticing that both Jarvan and Vayne were engaged in conversation, patted Lucian and gently pushed him away from the other two just when Lucian wanted to join the conversation.

"You're Vayne's partner, right?"

Lucian nodded.

"Very interested in our relationship, aren't you?"

"I read something quite interesting in Vayne's house."

"Read? Um…I think I know what it is."

"You're really her boyfriend?"

"To a certain extent. Though she wouldn't admit it to anyone. And why are you so nosy in our relationship?"

"I won't make much of a bargain out of it. But it's certainly interesting to know that someone as stone-faced as her has a soft spot after all."

"You have a point."

"What are you guys talking over here?"

Twisted fate almost jumped when he saw Jarvan standing next to him. He had no idea if the prince had heard anything they had discussed.

"Nothing much, it's just that…why don't we see any Noxians here? I thought you said they were the ultimate manipulators."

"I'm asking myself the same question. So far the only company from them is a giant sewer rat and a crocodile. Heck, there's no one in the College waiting for us! That's not I'm expecting. We might be misled by the map after all!"

"The map's originally intended to be read by the High General, and no hidden clues were on the map. Surely Swain can't mislead his own men? But you're right, there couldn't be no defenses at all…"

It was at that moment did they realize that they had reached the end of the tunnel. There was no further path, only stone stairs in the water which was connected to another small platform, square-shaped with yellow-black lines at the edges. The entire platform hovered above the water where a door stood, shaped like an oval.

Twisted fate looked at the door with uncertainty.

"An oval door in a sewer? Creepy."

Vayne boarded the stairs first, climbing up towards the door.

"To me, it's less and less possible that behind this door is a giant Noxian war-base."

"What is it then? You just mentioned that Swain's directions couldn't be wrong."

"They can't. But we'll see what we find here."

The metal door stood in front of them, obstructing their way. Jarvan tried to turn the handle around, but it simply wouldn't budge.

"How are we supposed to open this again?"

Vayne examined the door more closely.

"This is a steel door with no lock. The only way is by turning the handle, but you tried and it failed. An alternative is to break down the door, but I find that highly impossible at the moment."

"Highly impossible? Then I'll prove you wrong, Vayne. Stand back, all of you."

Lucian gestured the others to move away, before pointing his two guns at the steel door.

"This door will lie in ashes and dust very soon, believe me."

A torrent of piercing light was fired from his guns, bombarding the metal door viciously as if the guns were completely unhinged and unrestrained, fired by a madman. Jarvan could feel the strength of the bullets—the ear-piercing mini-explosions on the door was deafening and so loud the entire tunnel echoed its sound. Cracks on the door gradually formed, then expanded. Seconds later the entire door shattered like glass would, flying backward in pieces. In an instant, blinding white light came out from the door's place, blinding Jarvan and Twisted fate temporarily and prompting them to cover their eyes. However, Lucian's guns kept firing even after his job was complete.

"Hold on, let me stop the auto-firing mode—ah yes, it has finally stopped. Dear me. Haven't set the gun to such a crazy mode ever."

Lucian's white guns—or laser guns, as the others perceived, were still glowing in white while gray smoke came out from its nozzle. He and Vayne looked directly into the light, as opposed to the other two.

"Great thing we have sunglasses, isn't it? Works well in this situation."

"I'm used to the dimmer surroundings in the sewer," said the gypsy.

Twisted fate's eyes eventually managed to adapt to the brightness, and looked into the door that had been busted open. Behind the door was a hallway once again, but this time it looked different. The floor and walls were plain white, though it was shiny in a sense and acted partially like a mirror. The source of the light was revealed to have come from a row of square holes on the ceiling. The ceiling was not as high when compared to the sewer's, but the hallway was certainly same as wide.

"That's…a hell of a hallway, isn't it?"

The hallway was straight, and not far away there seemed to be a junction. The deformed door laid there in flames. A black rectangle was on the wall at the junction, facing towards them.

"We've walked through many hallways, but this one is definitely high-tech. Futuristic, in Piltoverian terms."

"Why will a technologically-advanced hallway be in a stinky sewer? Doesn't make sense to me," the prince said as he stepped into the new corridor.

"There has to be a reason. My guess is that some unspeakable secret lies here."

"What an innovative suggestion, Night Hunter."

Vayne returned another death-glare at the gypsy, who was trying his best not to laugh.

"I don't need your sarcastic comments, Card Master."

"I know. I'm very sorry." His tone suggested otherwise.

She grumbled, before stepping into the corridor herself.

Moments later they reached the junction and realized that the black rectangle in the distance was another screen on the wall. There were two other pathways in the junction, one left and one right, but they seemed to be abruptly blocked by two walls respectively.

"Hmph, we've been blocked again. What are we going to do?" asked Jarvan, while Lucian touched the walls with his fingers.

"This material is way tougher than the steel door. I don't think my guns can break through this one. Neither will Vayne's explosives."

"I can teleport over that wall, I guess. But I don't know what's over there, and I can't take all of you there at once."

Meanwhile, Vayne stared at the screen, studying and examining it—she appeared to have found something hidden in it.

Actually, the screen wasn't completely black—there were gray lines on it, and as Vayne inspected more closely she noticed there were numerous gray lines, intertwined with each other. Some gray lines even spelled out words.

 _C…o…l…l…college._

One of the words were "College". A coincidence?

An intriguing thought dawned on her. She backed away slightly and re-examined the entire screen again. The gray lines were quite familiar to her, for they depicted a drawing which she had seen somewhere before.

The map she had possession of. Which meant that the screen was very indirectly portraying the whole map using gray lines. The patterns, the symbols—even the words mirrored those on the map. In short, the screen was a direct copy of the map.

What did that mean?

Vayne checked again. It was truly a copy of the map with no difference at all. She then took out her map and held it in front of the screen, still quite unconvinced.

"Unable to scan fully. Please place the map right on the screen."

The absolute randomness of the voice that came nowhere alarmed all four of them, immediately alerting them of potential danger. Twisted fate drew a dozen cards, Lucian pointed his guns at both sides, and Jarvan drew his shield and held his lance upwards.

Only to see Vayne holding a map in front of the black screen and totally oblivious of their alertness.

Twisted fate raised his eyebrows.

"Did I just hear something?"

Vayne just froze there for a split second. Then she spoke,

"Isn't that's Siri's voice?"

"Who the heck is Siri?"

But the other two nodded, knowing well what she was asking.

"It's identical. That's Siri speaking."

"I'm told to place the map on the screen. Guess I'll do so, and see what happens. Or maybe you can come and help."

With some help, Vayne was able to stick the whole map onto the screen, with the others holding the corners of the map. As they finished, though, what happened next was baffling—a horizontal red line appeared at the top of the map, then descended downwards to the bottom of the map.

"Scanning complete, Verification complete. Map of laboratory unlocked. Door unlocked."

After the announcement two things happened. One was that the screen changed from dull black into one with colours—another map on the screen. The electronic map could be seen even when the map blocked it partially. The other was that the wall on the right started descending into the ground, revealing another identical passageway.

They removed the map from the screen as they wanted to see the contents on the screen. The map was a different one—as they read on they found out that it was a detailed three-dimensional map of the facility they were currently in. As the four read it thoroughly, they discovered that a few corridors away was a room called "Portal room".

"Portal room. You think that is the one we're looking for?" Jarvan asked the group.

"Very likely," answered the Night Hunter. "However I didn't expect it to be so close to us. You should probably get your weapons ready because I can feel that something's going to happen soon."

"And I don't even see a Noxian here! I fear we have been fooled all along!" exclaimed the Prince.

"Hold it right there." Fate was holding his Card of Destiny, showing it to the others. "I know who's here in this facility—and who's not. What I can tell you is, there is only one person here."

"Only one person?" Lucian looked skeptical. "And who is that?"

"I don't know who this guy is, and he's quite difficult to describe, but he's…purple in skin colour. His physical size also seems to be abnormally large. He's in the portal room."

"Can you see what's in the room?"

"He' is sitting behind a desk with a…machine, and—"

"Why don't we go and see it for ourselves," suggested Jarvan. "There's only one person, after all. We can easily take him down if necessary."

The others were in agreement. As they ventured into the new hallway, however, Vayne was pondering of a question troubling her since their arrival.

 _How can there be only one person defending the portal?_

* * *

A few moments later.

The four of them stood in front of yet another white door, at the end of another corridor.

"This is the room?"

"According to the directions, yes."

Twisted fate took in a deep breath. _So this is the location we've been searching for. So far away and isolated from civilization. Makes sense._

The purple man in his mind came up again. _He is so weird-looking. Wonder if the Demacians will recognize him when we break in._

Once again he too questioned himself of the possibility that the only obstacle standing between them and the infamous Demon's portal—was this door and a purple man. There shouldn't be any error in his spell, so theoretically there was only one person nearby.

Or was it?

He doubted for a second, then shook his head—it couldn't happen. His sense never failed him, and he knew the Mage Hunters as the only ones capable of hiding from Destiny. Not everyone had the magic capabilities of the Mage Hunters.

"We're going in?"

Twisted fate looked around. Vayne bit her lips. Lucian was calm, but his guns were shaking to some degree. Jarvan clenched his teeth whilst looking at the door. The gypsy felt tense at the moment, but he was comforted by the fact that he was not alone.

"I'll place the bomb. You guys stay away, then when it detonates we run in instantly and take the purple guy hostage." Vayne ordered, which the others nodded.

The Night Hunter tossed something from her pocket to the door, just as Twisted fate and the others backed off from the door. Seconds later an explosion occurred, engulfing the door in smoke and flames whilst releasing a shockwave that almost made the gypsy lose his balance.

"Now!"

Jarvan led the charge. The four of them, each wielding their own weapons, dashed into the room through the smoke and witnessed what was in the room for themselves.

The room was.…..similar to a Piltoverian personal office. There was a desk with a computer and a lamp on it, and at the corner was a red sofa. The walls were white but the floor was wooden now, and on the wall was a bookshelf filled with all sorts of stuff. The room was big, however, and had plenty of space.

Of course, sitting behind the desk was the purple man Twisted fate mentioned but for some reason, they could only see the back of his purple head.

"Surrender now! Hands in the air!" Jarvan boldly announced upon entering the room.

The man turned his head towards them in a leisurely way, as if he wasn't in any danger at all. Jarvan dropped his jaw when he saw the man's face—lousy black hair, a nearly square-shaped face, and an open mouth revealing his giant teeth and a green tongue he stretched out. His lack of pupils in his white eyes was also taken notice of.

"Mundo will go where he pleases!"

Twisted fate wondered if Mundo was his name.

'You're wrong, Mundo. You don't go where you please. Now stay down and put your hands in the air before we stab you in the face."

"Face? Mundo likes stabbed in the face."

Jarvan dropped his jaw even further. He glanced at the others, giving a "WTF" look.

Mundo stood up, displaying his colossal chest and height—at least two meters tall. He was also muscular and wore a torn white coat, which Lucian identified as presumably a lab coat.

"Dr. Mundo on your service!"

Twisted fate drew his gold card, in case the man attacked suddenly.

 _This guy has some bad grammar._

"We don't need your service, Dr. Mundo. You stand down now or I'll fire!" Vayne shouted.

"Stand down? Mundo can't stand upside down."

Vayne shook her head in resignation.

"I find communicating with his idiot unbelievable. He'll make no use as a hostage."

Vayne fired a shot without warning. Twisted fate watched as Dr. Mundo's face was struck by a silver bolt. He stood still for a few seconds, then lost his balance and slumped back to his chair, breaking it.

"Finally! Someone else in this world who find communicating with Vayne unbelievable," uttered Lucian, who then earned himself another death glare from her.

"Nonetheless, we got him. Let's just search this room thoroughly for the portal, now that we don't have to face any more obstacles," Jarvan suggested.

"Wrong. He's not the only one in this room."

A masculine, deep voice came from behind. The four of them instantly turned backward, to see a looming figure entering the room. He was tall, having crouched into the office entrance. He was also a massive figure, roughly the same size as Mundo, but this man had grey battle armor all over him. He wore a red cape, similar to of Vayne's. Yet the most stunning spectacle was the giant axe he wielded—it almost had the same length as his height, not to mention the gigantic axe-head.

The Demacians narrowed their eyes while Twisted fate stared at the man in horror. The very man standing in front of them was no other than the Hand of Noxus himself. He was instantly recognizable—there were very little people who could compete with his size to the least, not to mention his axe. Most people couldn't even hold the heavy axe.

"Darius." Jarvan snarled with disgust.

"We meet again, here in the depths of the College. What a coincidence."

Twisted fate gasped in his mind. How could another person be here? His Destiny spell was.…..flawed?

"You can't beat us, Darius, no matter how strong you look," Vayne threatened. She had a point—they weren't easy to take down.

"Relax, Vayne, I'm not your only company." Darius sneered as he pointed behind them. "Dr. Mundo is there—and he's a lot more durable than I am."

As Darius spoke a purple hand emerged from the bottom of the desk before Mundo himself stood up. His whole body was expanding—his muscles became larger and larger. The silver bolt was still on his face, but he pulled it out with his hand and threw it aside. There was a hole between his eyes, where the bolt had struck. Red blood flowed down from the wound, but suddenly the wound merged by itself, reverting his head to his original state. His green tongue came out of his mouth, licking his mouth as if he was about to eat something tasty.

Jarvan couldn't believe his eyes. But he had to deal with an even threatening foe in front of him.

"Lucian, keep the doctor in check," the prince ordered as he turned back to face Darius.

"He's the Madman of Zaun. A graduate of this College. A man who ignores pain since birth. He can go through the greatest limits of the physical body. A great soldier for Noxus, in fact. What I'm more interested in is how you managed to get here all the way from Demacia without even a scratch."

"That's simple." Jarvan took Vayne's map and showed it to the Noxian. "We have the map Swain sent to the High General."

"Ohhhh. I see." Darius nodded and gave another grin of his.

Meanwhile, Twisted fate was wondering how to eliminate the unexpected intruder. Darius must be taken down first. But how? His whole body was covered in armor, including his hands and legs, so his only exposed position currently was the head. Darius could die at once if his head was damaged badly by his cards. The question was whether he was fast enough.

Vayne was holding her crossbow tightly. Perhaps she would make the first move? If that was the case, Vayne's silver bolts would be a better choice as her bolts would definitely be faster.

They had to keep distracting Darius.

"And then you have a—er—dark creatures surrounding the College. But we took them down easy."

"Well done. But you can't say the same about me. I can—and will—take all of you at once—and win."

"Very convincing, Noxian." Jarvan rolled his eyes. "Why don't you just tell us where the Demon's portal is?"

"The Demon's portal?" Darius grinned upon hearing the sentence. "You actually believe it's here?"

Twisted fate wondered what he meant.

The next second Darius howled with laughter, echoing around the entire room. The loud, throaty laugh startled the gypsy—the Noxian laughed exactly like a villain would.

"Can't believe you'll actually fall for that. Hahahahahahaha—"

Darius raised his axe to intercept a bolt heading for his head. The bolt stuck on the axe instead. Twisted fate then saw Vayne holding her crossbow aimed at Darius, bolt missing. The hand of Noxus stopped laughing.

"I thought we can cooperate well, my fellow Demacians." He turned serious. "Except that the Night Hunter chose to attack me at my most vulnerable. Still, it's quite amusing that you took Swain's instructions…literally."

Jarvan started to panic.

"You mean…you mean the portal isn't here after all?"

"Don't you wonder why there's no security at all around the College, except Yorick and his useless crap of a team? We knew very well that Yorick won't be able to stop you. The map is genuine, however, and anyone who wants to reach the Demon's portal must reach here. Swain mentioned in the instructions that the portal can be 'accessible' here. Well, the term 'accessible' is a rather broad one."

The Demacians did not know whether to trust him or not. But if they wanted to investigate further, they had no choice but to take down the Noxian. And the Doctor.

"Shut up, Darius. Any last words?"

"You're asking my last words? Wow, you're overconfident. Don't worry, I'll tell you my last words when you die under my axe."

"Jarvan and I will take on Darius. Lucian, you go with Twisted fate to deal with the doctor." Vayne ordered before readying another bolt.

Twisted fate noticed that the Noxian General wore a helmet. At once Darius's face was replaced by a metal face with two red glowing rectangles—the helmet was made of Hextech, and now fully enclosed his face. His face was no longer vulnerable, and when adding to this the fact that no part of his body was exposed, it made injuring Darius with any weapon extremely strenuous. It also made the Noxian more menacing as a whole.

"You will regret opposing me."

His voice became metallic like a robot under the mask.

"Hextech Darius huh? Doesn't change the outcome," Jarvan boosted.

"Mind your words, Demacian Prince."

"Don't forget Mundo!"

Mundo was also ready to fight and other than becoming bigger in size (even exceeding Darius) a bloodied cleaver also appeared in his hand. It wasn't big, but it was certainly gruesome and seemed poisonous. At first glance, Mundo wasn't an easy foe to take down.

"Are you ready guys?" Lucian asked.

"Ready to kick ass," Jarvan answered, staring intently at the Noxian.

"Charge!"

Jarvan dived towards Darius, Vayne following behind. Darius also started running, his axe clashed with Jarvan's lance as soon as their they met. The prince's and the general's head faced and stared each other into the eyes. Between them was a strength fight—they were trying to push over the other with the sharp end of their weapons so that either of them could land a strike. Darius's facial expression was hidden behind the mask, but Jarvan's was reddened, his eyes narrowed and determined to win the power fight.

Jarvan was strong, but Darius was stronger. The Noxian's strength was well-known in the military, and even the prince was struggling to hold his ground. Darius's axe gradually overpowered his lance, and he was about to knock his lance away, despite Jarvan's attempts to resist.

However, Jarvan wasn't the only fighter here.

Darius was about to press over the prince with his axe when he suddenly felt something hard hit his axe, which almost knocked his weapon off. A silver bolt landed on the axe with immense strength, and Darius saw Vayne behind the prince, supporting him with her crossbow. The thing was, he couldn't hold off Vayne's powerful blows and Jarvan's lance at the same time. It would be too demanding for anyone.

Another bolt came, and he still managed to grasp his axe well. But upon the third bolt, he gave way—his axe was sent flying behind him, plunging into the wall.

Seeing that Darius had no weapon, Jarvan rammed his lance at Darius's chest, pushing him towards the wall. The wall cracked upon Darius's impact, shaking the room simultaneously. Jarvan then drew back his arm and rammed the helmet with his lance instead, trying to break through it. However, the Noxian deflected the lance with his hand, then ran forward, punching straight at Jarvan's face, knocking him back.

Another bolt landed on his metal face. However, the Noxian chose to ignore it and instead went to fetch his axe.

Vayne sighed. The general was a lot tougher to defeat than before. He used to be no different from others and would die by being shot in the head. But now she could do nothing against his armor. The bolts that were strong enough to knock his axe away were specifically heavy ones, and not that she had enough supply. Plus her bolts were made to penetrate flesh, not metal.

 _I should upgrade my bolts when I get back. If I live through this._

The problem with Darius was that he had a tough defense but at the same time an oppressive offense. His strength was unparalleled, and he would wear them down slowly in an extended fight. They must take him down as soon as possible—or else they would certainly lose. And if bolts wouldn't do the trick, then they must use something else.

Vayne glanced quickly at Twisted fate and Lucian. They were keeping Mundo at a distance but didn't seem to do well either. Mundo just refused to die, even if he had numerous cards on his burning skin.

 _Enough. Focus on your own fight._

Darius was at arm's length from his axe. Vayne figured out she had to do something. She took out a pack of mini black balls in her palm—the explosives she commonly used. She had never needed to throw them all at once, and wouldn't want to, for she did not have much in stock. But desperate times call for desperate measures, and this was certainly one of them.

"Stay back, Jarvan!" She cried before tossing the explosives at the Noxian. He first raised his arm to block the bombs, then looked down and realized what it actually was.

But all became too late.

A fiery ball of yellow flame filled in the spot where Darius previously stood. Vayne raised her arm and cape to protect herself from the blast. Everyone in the room halted their movements temporarily, witnessing the explosion which sound bombarded the whole room. The sound of rock crashing could be heard on the other side following the explosion.

As the dust settled Vayne checked on Jarvan, who had recovered from the head strike.

"He still hits like a truck. Damn."

Together they stepped into the smoke.

The explosion left a small crater at the spot, but the wall beside the entrance of the room was…gone. In the hallway (which was visible due to the disappearance of walls) was the stone debris from the destruction of the wall, with Darius lying on it.

"He just crashed through…the whole wall?"

Jarvan blinked, then ran towards Darius with his lance, seizing his chance to attack. But as he landed his spear it collided with Darius's axe instead. Darius himself tried his best to hold his ground.

"Think you can beat me, Prince?"

Their blades clashed for a few more times with no clear winner. Darius then pulled back his axe and aimed straight at Jarvan once more, attempting to slice the prince from his left. Jarvan drew his shield straight away and positioned it between him and the axe, completely negating the sheer force of the blow. Then without hesitation, the prince counter-attacked with his lance, knocking the Noxian off his foot once again.

"It's not very honorable fighting one with two, right?" He sneered while standing up.

Jarvan frowned. He turned back and signaled Vayne to back off from their duel. Vayne gave him a hint of disapproval on her face, which the prince interpreted as "you're an idiot if you think you can take him alone". But then all of a sudden they heard Lucian shouting.

"We can't beat this monster, Fate! His regeneration is unrealistic!"

Vayne sighed. Jarvan's situation was dire, but Lucian and Twisted fate's seemed to be the urgent one. She nodded reluctantly at Jarvan before entering the room without a word, leaving Jarvan and Darius in the corridor.

"Now it's one on one, Noxian. Shut up and fight!"

Darius grinned. With a battle cry, he launched himself on the prince, swinging his axe towards Jarvan's head.

Jarvan ducked, dodging the axe head, then he retaliated by stabbing Darius in the chest.

Darius reacted quickly, blocking his lance. He then raised his axe in an attempt to slice Jarvan yet again.

Jarvan blocked the strike with his shield. As Darius tried repeatedly to slice him again, he blocked every strike with his shield, defending himself from his blows. He held it tight so that Darius wouldn't knock his shield away instead. At the same time, he planned a counter-attack.

When Darius raised his axe this time the prince dashed towards his right, avoiding the whole attack. Seeing the Noxian's vulnerable side, Jarvan delivered a skull-crushing uppercut at the Noxian's metal head, then punched his chest straight on. Darius almost lost his balance while he himself walked backward, crashing the wall with his back instead. There came another stone-crumbling sound.

This time, Jarvan has successfully hit Darius in his weak spot. He did not expect himself to be able to do so—but perhaps luck has favoured him, for Darius normally could have parried those attacks.

In his memory, the kind of blow he unleashed just now was more than enough to fatally wound a person, even muscular ones. Typically no one had ever survived this blow. But surprisingly, Darius stood up, holding his axe and re-entering his battle stance once again.

 _Damn, this guy is a nightmare to fight against._

Jarvan charged at Darius, exhausted but determined to unleash his finishing blow on Darius. If he does, then he would have created history—the only person known to have defeated Darius on a one-versus-one.

Darius responded by charging at him as well. They aimed the sharp end of their weapons at each other, clashing as their blades. It was another battle of strength—but this time Jarvan had the upper hand.

"That head injury isn't that neglectable, right?"

"You're simply lucky to have hit me there."

Eventually, Jarvan managed to hit the axe off the hands of the Noxian. Then the prince struck Darius's head from his left with his lance's sharp end, hitting the metal helmet with his strength. As Darius's head tilted right (for he was hit on the left) he grabbed his head and slammed it onto his knee. The prince heard bone-cracking sounds, though sure that it wasn't his. He then tried to stab into his neck but realized he couldn't pierce through the armor.

Suddenly he felt his legs being grabbed, then seconds later his whole body was raised into the air—Darius's arms held Jarvan high in the air. Jarvan could feel Darius exerting force onto his leg even with his armor—if he did nothing, the Noxian might crush his leg completely.

Jarvan had no choice but to kick Darius in the head, leaping into the air as both of his legs left Darius's grasp. He did a somersault and landed perfectly on his foot.

Darius, meanwhile, was backing away from Jarvan while trying to balance himself (he was moving quite unsteadily). Although Jarvan missed the chance of killing Darius by the neck, he was more grateful that he had saved himself from two broken limbs. Additionally, if Darius was this wounded in the head (as his actions suggested) then he had a fair chance of winning the fight.

Then the unexpected happened.

Mundo appeared beside Darius.

His body was absolutely deformed and burning with fire, with multiple bolts on his face. His face features couldn't be recognized. One arm was missing, and some of his skin on his torso was gone, exposing his flesh and…organs. Yet the smile was still on his face, apparently unconcerned at all.

Twisted fate, Vayne, and Lucian emerged from the broken wall (where Darius had broken through), chasing after Mundo. They stopped, looking at Mundo, Darius, and Jarvan at the same time.

Twisted fate saw Darius in the eyes. His eyes were set on the madman in a way as if the Noxian had ill-intentions towards him. The Noxian's facial expressions were hidden, but Twisted fate could feel that what he was about to do next would be…cruel to the fullest.

Darius pulled Mundo, who was not quite far away, to his front with the axe head, surprising the madman. He then said to him:

"Sorry, Mundo, but you will be remembered as an honorable yet necessary sacrifice in Noxian history."

"What you do to Mundo—"

Darius was airborne with a great leap, raising his axe high in the air barely touching the ceiling. At this point, Jarvan could already guess Mundo's fate. What Darius was doing now was called the "Noxian Guillotine", his signature move. He had never witnessed it himself, but soldiers who had seen it with their eyes unanimously agreed that it could be one of the most brutal and bloody scenes one could ever see. They described this move as "a woodcutter chopping a tree in half with an axe". Whoever was unlucky enough to be the victim of the guillotine would end up...unable to be described with words.

Mundo, however, didn't flinch at all. He stood there watching Darius as if the Noxian was performing a show appealing to him.

Then Darius's axe went straight down towards Mundo. The axe cuts into the middle of his head and went down with ease until it hit the floor. Some of Mundo's deformed body parts and bits of flesh flew off from the body in pieces, along with blood. It flew across the hallway, landing on everywhere including the Demacians and the gypsy.

The Madman of Zaun was gone. He had turned from a muscular purple man to a lifeless corpse, standing awkwardly at his spot with major body parts missing. His entire body then literally exploded, torn open when Darius pulled back his axe and collapsed. The entire scene was of blood and gore, reddening everywhere nearby Mundo's body.

The Hand of Noxus, however, had changed. A red aura surrounded him, and his whole axe changed colour to red—blood red, for no obvious reason. His head looked up at the Demacians—the red rectangles, presumably his eyes, glowed brightly.

"Witness true strength."

The Demacians were quite shocked at what happened just now. Dr. Mundo was so durable that he could hold on Lucian's and Twisted fate's attacks for a prolonged time, and yet he just died from a single blow from Darius. Most importantly, the Noxian had changed into a monstrous state with blood-red fury, something none of them had seen—or heard before.

Darius dived towards Jarvan straight away like a bull. The prince dared not face Darius head on, so he tried his best to dodge. But the hallway wasn't wide enough, and Jarvan's armor was bulky. And the Noxian was horrifyingly fast. Vayne tried her best to keep Jarvan out of harm's way, firing another heavy bolt at Darius. Of course, it had no effect on him, bouncing off harmlessly. As Darius came close, Jarvan made an unexpected dash towards the other side, attempting to dodge. But Darius extended his axe, and as he and the axe were also as wide as the hallway, it was impossible for Jarvan to dodge.

Vayne ducked, intentionally falling backward so that she laid on the floor flat, dodging the axe which barely missed her head. Jarvan ended up facing Darius's chest instead, so he wasn't killed by the axe. Alternately, he felt a very, very powerful force hit him straight on.

What happened next was visually stunning. Darius's fist went straight for the prince's chest, sending him flying away from Darius at high speed. Travelling through the hallway, he at last collided with a wall at the other end of the corridor, back first, creating a giant dent and a loud crash sound. He then dropped to the floor.

Twisted fate gasped in horror. The pure strength that Darius demonstrated right in front of his eyes was traumatizing. The blood-red aura he gained after killing Mundo altered the Noxian greatly, making him near-unstoppable.

Darius turned his gaze towards Vayne, who scrambled behind him. Even the Night Hunter was clearly unprepared for this. She took a defensive stance, backing away from the Noxian.

Jarvan's fate was undetermined.

Darius was ready to launch himself on Vayne when green smoke suddenly surrounded him, obstructing his vision. He kept turning directions aimlessly without stepping out of the smoke cloud until he bowed down and picked up a green card below his feet. The Noxian crushed the card with the holding hand.

"You're distracting me from my job. Fine. I will kill you first."

Darius's voice made the gypsy feel he was facing a death machine.

The death machine launched himself on Twisted fate instead. The gypsy threw a gold card, but it was futile as the Noxian was only slowed briefly instead of being stunned.

As Darius raised his axe ready to sweep over the gypsy's current position, he dashed aside to dodge the weapon. The red axe was right behind him as he did so. Twisted fate didn't dare to stop—he didn't want to feel the sharp edge of the blade.

At last, he managed to escape the axe range. Looking back, he saw the damage Darius did, not on his flesh but on the surroundings. Darius made a giant hole in the wall, and outside the wall was a larger room, much to his surprise. A large room with no bottom, as it seemed. Darius himself stood near the hole.

Regardless, Twisted fate had no time to observe further as he concentrated back on a raging Darius, recomposing himself from the heavy attack. But Vayne and Lucian were quite surprised of the hole, not because that there was a room behind, but because they finally figured out a way to defeat the Noxian.

The two of them looked at each other for a split second and nodded without a word. Both of them knew what to do. In the meantime, the gypsy gazed at the two of them, baffled.

"What? You can communicate just by looking at each other?"

Vayne suddenly tumbled, disappearing into the air. Immediately afterwards there was Lucian firing a white missile at Darius, exploding in a star shape. Darius was knocked back slightly by the blast.

The Night Hunter reappeared beside Lucian, firing a heavy bolt at Darius as well. It landed on Darius's chest and jolted him backwards slightly. Darius was standing quite close to the edge of the hole, and if he moved backwards any further then he would surely fall.

At this point, Twisted fate finally understood the message behind the eye-gazing—to push Darius off the hallway and into the room.

Darius comprehended this as well, so he raised his axe to block the projectiles, and stepped forward slowly to get himself away from the hole.

"Now, Twisted fate, now!"

Vayne was calling his name, and Twisted fate understood what she meant. He even knew the cards for the occasion.

 _Come and help get Darius off the hallway!_

With a hand gesture, Twisted fate summoned more than 20 red cards around him. He pointed at Darius, and in an instant all the cards went after the Noxian, crashing onto his armor at once. At the same time, Lucian's other missile landed on his armor, and Vayne's heavy bolt collided with the armor. Strangely, the three kinds of projectiles landed at roughly the same time and avoided Darius's axe.

The Hand of Noxus's feet left the ground completely, flying backwards out of the hallway and into the hollow room. Twisted fate ran forward and stood at the edge of the hole, glancing at the room thoroughly.

The hollow square room was, in fact, gigantic in size, half the size of a football pitch. A huge pool of water resided at the bottom of the room. The water was opaque, and its colour was a mixture of brown and orange. The whole room was identical to a fully-enclosed small room, only with no doors, white walls, a flooded floor, lots of lamps on the ceiling, and a hundred times larger. Twisted fate was like an ant standing at one side of a wall.

The level where Twisted fate was standing was near the ceiling of the large room, so the gypsy was standing far higher than the water. Which was a relief, for he had no intention of going into the disgusting-looking water. There was also a…weird smell.

There came a splash, and there was Darius's metal body gone into the water below him.

"Wow."

The sound made him jump, almost losing his balance. Lucian and Vayne stood beside him, for the hole was wide enough to hold the three.

"If you ask me, I'd say that smells like chemical waste. Like the one at Vayne's mini-lab."

"I didn't expect another room to be here. Particularly a giant one. Anyway, if that's truly chemical waste, then Darius should be gone for now. Perhaps we should check on Jarvan."

"There's no need to check on me. I'm right here."

Jarvan was miraculously there, standing meters behind them. Though most notably his armor was very much not the same as before. The armor was incomplete, with some of his skin was exposed due to parts of armor missing. The others had serious cracks and were probably as durable as glass.

"Yes, yes, I know, there's no need to be surprised. Even my armor can't take that hell of a blow."

The gypsy stopped himself from gasping. "No, I'm actually wondering why your body seems to operate so well when you took that kind of blow."

"Oh, that's because…I'm quite the sturdy type. In fact, I'm the only person in Demacia who managed to—"

"Please put your ego aside, Jarvan. I know what you're going to say."

Jarvan groaned.

"Seriously, Vayne. All right, shall we head into the portal room?"

Twisted fate glanced quickly at Mundo's body while they re-entered the room.

The room, meanwhile, was in absolute turmoil. Desks and chairs were broken, debris was on the floor, bookshelves crashed, lamps crashed, and an entire missing wall.

The problem was where the Demon's portal hid in this room. If it was here.

"No portal here," Jarvan muttered. "There's another room over there, however. See that glass door over there?"

Vayne walked across the debris on the floor and went straight to the glass door.

"This room…I wonder what it's made for," she speculated. There was a series of numbers on buttons beside the door, with numbers ranging from 0-9 and an additional red button at the bottom. Behind the door was a small white room (yet again), but with a pure silver floor.

"Maybe we should just check the room first. I don't want to miss any clues. And this seems like a password lock."

Twisted fate nodded, despite his urge to guess, or predict, the password out with his own ways.

It took a while for them to comb the disordered room, but nothing special was found. At least not from demolished and ruined objects.

"No clue here. Perhaps they remembered it by heart. That's bad. Can we break the glass?" Lucian had no clue of what to do.

"How about we try…9, 0, 7, 2?"

None of them saw that coming. Vayne, Lucian, and Jarvan all turned to Twisted fate, who had just said something they had serious doubts on.

"9, 0, 7, 2? You just guessed that number, right?"

"Correct, Jarvan. But this time I'm sure it's right. My sixth sense tells me that—and it's never wrong."

"How can I believe you? Your answer isn't a concrete one."

Twisted fate was about to press the buttons when Vayne grabbed his hands without warning.

"I won't risk you entering a wrong answer and dooming us all."

"On the contrary. I am the only one who knows the answer. I swear."

"Maybe he's right if he's that confident." Vayne was unmoved even when those words came from her partner. "His sixth sense has been in work for years, and that's why he stands here until this day."

"Still, I need a confident answer. One that isn't guessed randomly."

"Too bad I already typed it in."

Vayne held his two hands tightly so they couldn't move, but on the four numbers that Twisted fate mentioned laid four cards respectively on the digits 9,0,7,2.

"How the hell did you—"

"I can move cards mentally. I'm _ **the**_ Card master."

As he finished speaking the glass door slid up slowly, making way for the room.

"It…worked. For real." Jarvan gasped with amazement. "You have an excellent sixth sense, Twisted fate!"

"Impressive," Lucian praised, clapping his hands.

Vayne just stood there, staring at the room as the gypsy removed his hands from her loosening grasp.

"You lost, Night Hunter. A gamble lost."

However, as Vayne and Twisted fate entered the room they realized there was nothing in the room as opposed to what they originally thought.

"There's nothing in this room. Let's look for clues somewhere else—"

They had no idea that Jarvan's body would suddenly fly past them at high speed, his body slamming against the wall. As they tried to comprehend what was going on, they saw Lucian's body flying into the room as well, which they dodged by ducking. Lucian's body, again, slammed against the wall.

Darius—the man they had met minutes ago—was standing at the entrance yet again with his metal helmet gone, revealing his bruised face. He wielded two guns, pointed at them. One was a typical pistol, the other was a larger gun which had a weird look, most notably a bigger muzzle.

The Noxian fired his pistol. Twisted fate was about to throw a card to intercept when he saw the pistol fly out of his hand. Vayne was way faster than him in terms of reaction, and she had made the first move.

But the shot was fired. The only thing was that it wasn't aimed at them—instead, unbeknownst to them, it hit the red button. A glass door suddenly emerged at the top of the pathway and in less than a second blocked their way out completely.

They were trapped in the room.

Darius advanced forward, smirking cunningly as he arrived in front of the glass. His armor was heavily tainted with the chemical, but he seemed majorly unaffected.

"I can't beat you," Darius muttered in front of the glass. "But I sure outsmarted you all, didn't I?"

Vayne and Lucian, who had recovered, fired their weapons at the glass. Cracks slowly formed on the glass, but it didn't break as quickly as expected.

"You can't break this glass," Darius said in a mocking tone. "You're weak. Ouch, my head. That head blow, Jarvan, is definitely painful."

Below them, the white floor suddenly turned purple and bright. Jarvan could feel that the floor became hot. He slammed the glass with his lance, but even his repeated strikes couldn't break it.

 _What the heck is this kind of glass?_

"I didn't know you use guns, Darius."

"Some Piltover technology is of great help to beat you Demacians. You just refuse to embrace the new era of Hextech. And you will fail because of it. A gravity gun! Now that's something innovative. Not to mention the rockets attached on my feet! Without that, I won't be here to see you eventually kneel before me."

Twisted fate deduced what previously happened—Darius came out of the chemical pool, got himself two guns for some reason, and then fired the gravity gun at Jarvan and Lucian, sending them into the room as well. (As to how the gravity gun actually worked, he didn't know) Then he fired his pistol at somewhere which triggered the glass door to shut immediately.

"You will teleport to the Demon's portal, as you wished. It's your goal! Why break out of it?" Darius taunted.

"Teleport?"

Out of all the possible functions of the room, teleportation wasn't one of them.

"You're in a teleportation room. Now that I activated it, you will be sent to the Demon's portal and see it for yourself. The portal has never been here, as you mistakenly thought. What the map said is true—it is accessible from here—but not as literal as you think."

"You Noxian bastard!" Jarvan shouted.

"Of course I am. Except you just lost to one."

Twisted fate, too, tried to break the glass with his cards. But it proved pointless at this stage. The glass simply wouldn't shatter into pieces.

"Fight us if you dare!" Jarvan challenged. "You're a coward, Darius. Where's your pride?"

"My pride? Look at where you are right now. Look at me. That's pride." Darius shot back.

Jarvan growled. The glass was now unrecognizable and no longer transparent, yet it failed to shatter. This baffled the four of them. Darius, in contrast, seemed to have anticipated this.

"This is your weakness, Demacians. You are bounded by your stupid traditions. Your army still only has outdated weapons as an offense and a feeble wall as a defense. What you used to fight in the era of King Jarvan the First, is still used under the rule of Jarvan the Third! Oh sorry, does Jarvan III even exist in this world? Not anymore."

"You dare insult my great country? Then what is your nation, huh? A useless piece of crap, because Noxus can do nothing under a unified Runeterra!" Jarvan's face was bright red, which made Darius even more entertained.

"A unified Runeterra? Is that what's going to stop us? We might be only one nation on the surface. But under the surface, we have a massive army—a undead army. The Army of Monsters! They have infinite numbers, and surely you can't defeat them all?"

Darius's words basically confirmed that the Portal was real.

"When you teleport there, you will meet the one who is behind this—the great leader of world domination. He knows the art of war—the laws of ancient magic—and possesses the power of a legendary weapon. I have never seen a being this powerful, and yet he stands on the side of Noxus. Witness the end, Jarvan! Not the end of us, but the end of anyone who opposes the mighty Noxus in Valoran! The time of Noxians has come. Noxus will rise!"

Twisted fate noticed Darius speaking of the mysterious leader in an unusually respectful way. If someone as strong as Darius respected a certain person, then that person must be…unimaginably formidable.

"I would want to stay here and watch your fruitless attempt, but the teleportation is due. I'll see you next time. Or maybe not, because you'll be in hell already."

If the barrier between them was gone, Darius wouldn't stand a chance against their cumulated anger and rage. But what could they do if the barrier simply was unbreakable?

Darius laughed once again, turning away from them. This time, Jarvan used his own fists to smash the glass but failed miserably. His face was like a demon, fueled with rage. Vayne and Lucian were desperate yet persevering, still firing at the glass even if they knew that their attempts were futile.

Twisted fate chose to do nothing, feeling the energy below his feet. This energy was familiar to him—the energy he used in his own teleports. Now he believed that the purple energy would, in fact, teleport them to somewhere—only he didn't know the location.

The purple light consumed the four, obstructing their sight. Vayne and Jarvan felt the energy and too recognized it, but Lucian was fearful—he had never experienced teleportation, after all.

The four of them finally stopped their movements, standing still to embrace the magic. Yet they could still hear the last sentence Darius said outside the glass.

"Good luck in meeting the Master of Death."

* * *

 **Author's note:**

 **Sorry for the delay! (Quite busy this month, too. Though the situation might improve after one or two chapters, so don't worry.)**

 **Plot twist! What a brutal chapter! The boss, in the form of the Hand of Noxus, challenges our heroes to a duel! And he's not alone, for the mysterious Madman of Zaun accompanies the Noxian in this bloody fight. (By mysterious, I mean the rarity Mundo appears in a League game. Trust me, I've seen more Urgots.) Anyway, after a hard 4v2 and eventually 4v1 (which is what a typical bragging Darius does) our heroes finally were able to subdue him shortly (they have the two best kiting marksmen in the game, after all) but underestimated the Noxian's cunningness as they were misled into a well-set trap and were sent to…somewhere else. (Probably not anywhere good.)**

 **Turns out that the location of the Demon's portal is a total hoax (or maybe fortunate, because this story gets extended). But where exactly does the portal lead to? Maybe somewhere you will not expect…...**

 **(Note: Darius's sudden boost in strength is a reference of his in-game passive, which gives him absurd amounts of AD. Like seriously, it's broken as hell, as portrayed in this chapter.)**

 **I would have wanted to extend the Darius vs Jarvan scene, but prolonged fight scenes are quite boring in other fanfics. (Unless you think it is a good idea, in which I would try to write a bit more of the action scenes next time)**


	24. Chapter 23

_Where am I?_

The most recent memory Twisted fate remembered was being teleported in a small room, together with his team, or comrades, which consisted of Vayne, Lucian, and Jarvan IV. They were ambushed by Darius, who had sneaked behind their backs and blasted them into the room with a gravity gun. Then there was a purple glow beneath his foot, and then anything that happened afterwards was something he did not recall very well.

Or rather, it was how he ended up in his current situation that made him ponder. Because the surroundings around him weren't that much familiar.

To be exact, out of one's expectations.

 _Where are the others?_

Twisted fate was surrounded by total whiteness. However, he was able to stand as firmly as ever, even when there was no sign of any solid ground. There was nothing—and no one—beside him. He was absolutely alone.

He drew his card Destiny which had no reaction whatsoever. He also couldn't feel any mana within him—which meant he couldn't cast any spells.

 _Strange. I still had loads of mana back in the sewer. Why is it all gone?_

"Greetings, Card Master."

 _Huh? Where did that come from?_

He was pretty sure that no one was in sight.

"Who's there?"

"An old friend of yours."

 _An old friend?_

Twisted fate did not recall having any friends. Although he sure had many "old" friends, such as his former partner Graves.

"You have forgotten me, it seems."

Twisted fate was completely confused with the sound, especially of what it had said.

"I can't remember you if you don't tell me who you are."

"You have a bad memory for a world-class criminal. Very disappointing."

The gypsy still had no idea what was going on. He drew out a gold card, only to discover that it was not mana-infused at all, making it no better than an ordinary poker card.

"I'm a mage, just like you. We've crossed paths before. Surely you have some memory of that?"

The problem was, Twisted fate had encountered far too many mages during his heists. And he couldn't recall any of their names or faces.

"You're assuming that I've only met one single mage in my whole criminal career."

"On the contrary, Card master. I know you have met hundreds of mages. But I'm the best of them all. So good that I can convince Swain himself to cooperate with me. Now that's something not many mages can accomplish. Surely there are some memories within you that involve me?"

Still, Twisted fate did not know where to start, even if he tried to. It wasn't that he was entirely uninterested in the voice's identity.

"And what is the message that you want to convey?"

Silence. The voice suddenly was gone without a trace, which made Twisted fate think that he had just hit the right spot. He stared at the whiteness, waiting for a response.

"I have a lot, lot more to say to you, my old friend. But you're coming to my place very soon, and I don't want to spoil the sweet details over here. Perhaps things will go more smoothly when we're chatting while having a cup of coffee."

"You could have just killed us anytime. Why keep us alive?"

Another moment of silence. Twisted fate had guessed that the voice belonged to someone who he had met before and became partners, but their relationship ended up being a bad history that ultimately separated them. Most of the time, they changed from partner to arch-nemesis status. Again, the first person that came to his mind was Graves.

 _Damn it, Graves, why are you still in my head?_

Despite so, the gypsy was sure that the voice did not belong to the Outlaw. Graves usually did not hold back (and would never when he saw Twisted fate) when speaking, but this voice was…cunning and deliberately hiding something from him.

"Like I said, you and I have a lot to go through, so why not wait until we meet again? It won't be long, I suppose. Your friends will be taken care of, in case you're wondering."

Twisted fate growled. "Show yourself!" He refused to continue playing games with a man he had no information of.

He was replied with a sinister chuckle.

"Wait and see."

* * *

Twisted fate opened his eyes.

Or so he thought, because in the dream just now he recalled having opened his eyes already. But in front of him was a piece of glass, and he found himself in a white room encased in walls completely. The floor was purple in colour—diminishing in brightness rapidly. It was obviously identical to the room they were in before the teleportation.

Three familiar faces surrounded him, which he instantly recognized. They, too, looked confused, but Twisted fate noticed they weren't confused about their surroundings.

They were staring at him in utter confusion.

"You're conscious." Lucian was the first to speak.

"Yes, I am. Why?"

"You just stood there with your eyes closed."

"Really?"

"We just experienced a teleportation," explained Vayne. "I had the same feeling when teleporting with you last time, so it couldn't be wrong. But when we could see properly you stood there with your eyes shut, and yet you could maintain your balance."

 _I usually don't get any side effects when teleporting. This one is also a teleportation, but I feel different…why?_

The dream came into his mind. His encounter with a mysterious voice in total whiteness looked virtual if anything, but did it actually mean something? Did he really get in contact with an "old friend of his"? Most importantly, was it all a simple illusion or a genuine warning?

He couldn't answer that question. Yet.

"Nevermind that, guys. We've got company out there," announced Jarvan.

They could see a massive hall through the glass door, the outlook incredibly alike with the one in Jarvan's own palace. The architecture looked polished and royal, something that the prince could relate to. Their room was located in a corridor, and there was a short hallway leading to the majestic hall.

In the hallway stood two soldiers in classic Noxian armor, exposing only their limbs. They held silver swords in their hands.

As expected, they gasped upon realizing who was standing in the teleportation room. The men trembled briefly before reaching for a red button on a nearby wall.

The glass door started sliding upwards, giving way for an exit path for the four of them but upon the red button being pressed, the glass door landed violently back on the ground, shutting the exit. Then one of the men took out a black device and barked at it,

"Intruder alert! I repeat, intruders in teleportation unit! Backup required—this is urgent! This is not a drill!"

"We're trapped," said Vayne. "If this glass's the same as the unbreakable one, then we have no chance of leaving this room before they collapse on us."

"You forgot my presence, Night Hunter."

Twisted fate smirked with a stack of cards in his hands. "I can easily teleport out of here and smash their brains out of their heads before they can react. One of you can also come with me."

"Then I'll be honored," said Jarvan before the others had a chance to speak. "Let me go with you."

"Not with this armor, Jarvan," reminded Vayne. "It's totally not in a condition to fight."

Jarvan looked down and saw his broken armor. Indeed, it looked fragile and he could tear it apart himself with ease. He ultimately agreed, though reluctant.

"I will go with Fate." Lucian volunteered. "I have no trouble killing them."

"As you wish."

Twisted fate laid the cards on the ground and then gestured Lucian to join him. The Noxians looked puzzled as they saw what white light in the room, but they had no idea of what would happen next.

"What's…what's happening inside?"

"I don't know! But they should be staying inside…right?"

"Wrong."

The two men had their brains blasted out by Lucian's guns.

"So, the red button right?"

"Yep."

Lucian went and pressed the red button. The glass door opened, allowing Vayne and Jarvan to leave the room.

"We'd better leave this place now," urged Vayne. "Their backup is coming."

"Not coming, Vayne," said Jarvan. "They're already here."

Groups of men emerged from the entrance of the hall, fully armed. Since there was only one exit in the entire hall, they had to fight through them in order to escape.

Lucian pointed his guns at them and fired rapidly like machine guns. As the shots shot through the air like lightning, the men fell one by one as their armor were no match for the consecutive shots. The men who stood as the frontline took more than 10 shots before collapsing, giving way for the shots to reach the ranged fighters behind. There was nowhere to hide.

"That's some impressive firepower, Lucian," commented Jarvan.

The Noxians all lied on the floor, failing to close even half the distance between them and the four. Their armor burnt in scorching flames.

They walked past the bodies and headed for the exit, which consisted of two doors.

"Ready, guys?" asked Jarvan. The others nodded, arming themselves. Jarvan then pushed the doors open.

In front of his very eyes was the countryside. Not just any countryside—the land was covered by a blanket of snow. The landscape rose and fell like giant waves. The tree branches of leafless trees stirred in the wind. The sky was blue and clear.

"Wow." Jarvan certainly did not see that coming. "It's already the outdoors. Wait—it's cold outside!"

A gust of freezing wind swept on Jarvan's face.

"It's…it's cold here." Twisted fate's body was already shivering and his teeth were chattering.

"We have to leave now. But not with this temperature…" muttered Vayne.

Lucian glanced at the Noxians lying on the floor. An idea surfaced in his mind.

* * *

A building stood in the snow. At first glance, it looked very much like a town hall. Im fact, it was exactly a town hall—except it was the only building in the entire vicinity. Very strange, in fact, because what was the point of a town hall if there was no town?

Out came four men dressed in black Noxian armor. They stumbled into the snow, not quite used to the environment. Also, they weren't holding typical weapons. One held a Demacian lance; one held a golden crossbow; one held two white guns and one held...nothing in his hands.

"Now's better," one of them said. "Warmer than ever. This will be my new armor."

"I can keep my guns in the shealth," said another one.

"The archer set suits me well," said another one.

"Disgusting!" said another one, whose armor looked loose. He wore the largest armor among them all, but the wearer obviously was unfit. "This guy sweated too much. The armor is extremely uncomfortable and it doesn't fit! And I have nowhere to put my cards!"

"That's because you don't have luck, my friend." Jarvan joked. "You picked that suit yourself. Now let's go before it's too late. We don't have time to change."

Their sounds were muffled by the metal helmet they were wearing.

They ran towards the direction with more trees (for no specific reason). There was a sudden slope in front of them, small but steep, and Twisted fate slid down the slope for he had never walked in snow and failed to realize that snow was no less slippery than water.

"Behind us. Are those Noxians?" asked Lucian, who was looking backwards.

"We can stay behind the slope," suggested Jarvan, "and observe the building from a distance."

They hid behind the slope and watched. In a distance, black Noxian vehicles arrived and surrounded the building. Several men emerged from the car, dressed in heavy armor as well. They had deadlier weapons, however—large guns that even they struggled to wield. Amid the men was a woman who did not wear any headwear, unlike the others. She was eye-catching because she was the only one with red hair—people with red hair were scarce.

Vayne took her binoculars and observed the Noxian troops.

"Is that...Katarina?"

"Katarina? Let me have a look."

Jarvan took Vayne's binoculars and observed himself. Twisted fate watched as Jarvan's mouth dropped open. It was weird because Vayne was expressionless when she looked herself.

"That's...that's her. The poster assassin of Noxus. The one who had once slaughtered a group consisted of our best men...Vayne, did you dispose of my armor in the hall?"

"I placed a bomb in your armor. It should go off anytime soon."

One of the men inspected the hall at the entrance. Then he pointed his gun inside.

"Cover your ears," warned Vayne.

He fired.

Following the ear-piercing gunshot was a loud "BOOM" in the distance—external windows shattered at the same time and there was an orange glow in the hall. Twisted fate found the noise unbearable even with his ears covered—he wondered what would happen if Vayne did not warn them beforehand.

"I can see how much you hate Noxians from the sheer size of that explosion," said Jarvan.

"I hated them since young," she replied with a hint of anger. "Now we'd better leave before they locate us."

The four hastened away from the hall and headed forward. As the hall gradually disappeared from sight, they stopped and decided to rest.

"This looks like the Frejlord," remarked Lucian. "It's cold, and there's lots of snow."

"But Noxians in the Frejlord? Unlikely, if the Avarosan guard their land well."

"It isn't supposed to snow in this season! No place snows other than the Frejlord!"

"Frankly speaking, you and I have no idea where we've teleported to," said Jarvan. "I say we ought to just wander around and see what we can find. Unless you want to spy on the Noxians..."

"I'm already doing that."

The armored person beside Vayne held the Card of Destiny in his hand.

 _"They're gone, Katarina, with our men dead," said the Noxian soldier who fired the shot._

 _"Filthy Demacians. They've come to interfere with our scheme. Report to the headquarters first. They're dangerous foes. I'll head over to the temple myself."_

 _"It's risky walking alone. The criminals might be there outside."_

 _"They might. But they can't. Trust me."_

 _"Fine."_

 _The red-haired woman parted ways with the army. She put on her metal helmet and ambled towards a direction._

Twisted fate made a rough calculation. If Katarina continued walking straight then she would...not cross paths with them. The four of them would be able to watch her at a safe distance with the binoculars.

"Katarina just left the hall," he reported, "and we will see her in that direction. She is going to a temple."

"A temple?" Jarvan's face was skeptical. "Why will there be a temple in a snowy region?"

"Same reason why there is a town hall in a townless place."

"Should we kill her? She is surely no match for the four of us," suggested Lucian. "Or not?"

"Perhaps not. She is very, very slippery. I fought her before, and she is a tough one to bring down. Plus if we engage her in the open ground we risk exposing ourselves...not wise."

"We will stalk her to the temple. Find out what she's up to," suggested Vayne.

"Fine for me," agreed the gypsy.

The four of them followed Twisted fate's directions. With the Card of Destiny he could work out where Katarina was heading, and they were hundreds of meters behind her, safely out of her sight.

Twisted fate had never seen snow before. The blanket of snow laid in front of him, dominating the land completely with whiteness. Other than the footprints presumably left by Katarina, the surface was smooth. Mountains far away served as marvellous background, with ice-tops that reached high into the sky. There were no clouds, and although the sun stood at the top of their heads he could not feel any warmth. In fact, the cold air bypassed the slit of the helmet and left a cold sensation on Twisted fate's face. He could see his own misty breath in front of him.

In the distance, his sharp eyes captured the movement of a small rabbit, covered in white fur, who sat on a fallen tree bark.

 _Well, if that rabbit can live, so can I._

But he felt that he couldn't survive more than an hour in this kind of climate.

"It's actually not that cold here," said Jarvan. "Easily manageable."

 _What? You can manage this kind of temperature? I'm going to freeze at any point._

"I've been to the Frejlord. Trust me, it's way colder there," he continued.

"We don't know if this is the Frejlord. But again, it doesn't matter. We'll find our answers when we find out where Katarina's heading," reminded Lucian. "Twisted fate, did we miss anything?"

"Hold on for a second."

 _Katarina had reached a forest of pine trees. Amid the pine trees was an ancient-looking white temple, a few storeys tall. The walls weren't white—it was the snow. The prehistoric symbol of a sun stood above the exit, which was located on the ground._

 _A group of armored soldiers stood at the exit, guarding it. As Katarina approached they were unmoved, but they followed her as they headed into the rectangular exit in unison. The armored soldiers wielded blades that were distinct from the soldiers they met in the hall. These people were obviously not the average Noxian soldier._

 _Inside the temple was a long and wide staircase. Lanterns were hung at the two sides so they need not any light themselves._

"They've entered the temple."

"They?"

"Yes, because there was a group waiting for her. Wait, I think I detected someone else in my range—"

 _A few black armored trucks roughly a few miles away were speeding across the snow. Inside the trucks were men armed with hextech guns and dressed in heavy black armor. There was a total of 28 men._

 _The trucks were heading for the four of them._

 _One of the men spoke to a black device, shaped like a mini-radio,_

" _Katarina, this is a warning from Swain."_

 _At the same time, Katarina was in the temple nearly finished with the long staircase when the black device in her pocket emitted sound. She looked annoyed, yet had no choice but to pick up the radio. The others stared at the radio as well._

" _Go on."_

" _The enemies are detected to be two miles away from you, according to the radar at the headquarters. Swain has just sent us to capture them, and within six minutes we will reach the targets and surround them._ _However, they seem to be_ _heading towards your direction. They might be tracking you down."_

 _Katarina removed her helmet._

" _Good. Find them, and capture them—alive. Swain wants living Demacians before he himself tears them apart."_

" _Understood, Mistress."_

" _Who's coming?" One of the soldiers who followed Katarina took off his helmet as well. A hooded figure emerged from the helmet._

" _Talon, we have filthy Demacians to deal with. Can we take on them?"_

" _Depends on what Demacian we're facing. But I'll tear them to shreds no matter what," said Talon who drew his blades._

"Bad news! We've been discovered. Noxian trucks are heading in our way and will reach us in less than six minutes. All soldiers in the trucks are armed with hextech guns. Katarina is accompanied by a man called 'Talon' and they are looking forward to fighting us."

"Talon? Is it the Noxian assassin that…"

"Enough, Jarvan. We have to set our foot off the open ground! The temple—we will go into the temple and see what we can figure out inside. Now go!" ushered Vayne.

Twisted fate tensed up. _Things had certainly changed drastically in a matter of seconds._

They started hurrying towards the temple which wasn't even at sight. It was difficult to run in snow, and after some distance Twisted fate already found his legs sore and heavy—he was no good in running, especially when he had to constantly run slopes. The bulky armor proved to be a heavy burden as it made his movements clumsy. He would be far agiler if he wore casual clothing, able to sprint faster than most (or how could he be a successful criminal?).

As much as he wanted to teleport away, he refrained since he wasn't eager to leave the team again. Even if he did teleport, the chances of survival were measly—Noxians seemed to be the ones in control of the area. If he managed to break all expectations and successfully escaped, then he would remain a fugitive—implying a hard life ahead. The sole reason of why he joined the mission was for his citizenship in Demacia—a perfect dream for an outcast like him. He knew it would bring along huge risks—risks of death. But he had cheated death plenty of times for the past few days. Surely he can do it again?

Twisted fate refused to believe that he would die so easily. Unless Fate itself had decided to, which by then would he comply.

With some difficulty, the gypsy managed to not lag behind by too much and finally saw a forest of tall pine trees a few hundred meters away.

"We're almost there. Hurry!"

Twisted fate checked again. Three minutes had passed and the trucks would reach them in roughly three minutes.

Things weren't looking good for them.

The next second the gypsy felt his foot hit something hard. His body fell forwards and his face (his metal helmet, to be precise) crashed into the snowy floor. He recovered quickly and realizing that he had no extra time to lie on the ground any longer, he tried to stand.

But the armor was too heavy and he couldn't muster the strength to accomplish the task.

He did muster enough strength to look back, however, and found out that the culprit of his fall was a stone covered with snow. It was probably an oversight that he missed the stone.

 _Crap. Now I die to a single piece of rock._

Twisted fate gritted his teeth. But his desperate actions proved futile as the weight of the armor was too obstructive. Its heaviness pressured his back, pinning him to the ground.

 _What kind of armor is this? It's so heavy that people can't get up after a fall!_

Suddenly he saw a metal arm in front of him. He looked up and recognized the man standing in front of him to be Lucian (the white guns on his waist gave away that fact). He grabbed the hand and Lucian pulled, enabling him to get up. Beside Lucian stood Vayne and Jarvan.

"This armor is like a stone on my back," he defended.

"One, you picked the heaviest armor set back in the hall. Two, Noxian soldiers can easily get up because they're well-trained in physical strength. Whatever, we should really keep going. Time is running out, according to you."

"Right."

They continued running towards the temple. This time Twisted fate paid more attention to his surroundings. Finally, they reached the entrance.

The temperature inside the temple was significantly warmer thanks to the lanterns inside, though it was still quite cool.

"I'm not used to fighting while wearing armor." said Vayne as she removed her armor.

"Same," agreed Lucian.

Twisted fate removed his helmet and tossed it out of the entrance without hesitation. Goosebumps were all over his face.

"I dislike this armor."

Only Jarvan kept the armor on because obviously, he had never fought without his protective gear.

"Let's go."

They heard a loud "BOOM" behind them. A fireball remained in place meters outside the entrance.

"An explosion. The Noxians trucks are here. Run!"

They descended the stairs quickly. The corridor leading downwards had walls comprised of stone bricks, similar to the temple in the forest during his time with Ivern. He wondered if the same creatures lie deep in the hallway.

"This staircase takes forever," commented Jarvan. Despite his bulky armor, the prince was a few steps ahead of the gypsy.

"I know. I'm mentally prepared for this a few minutes ago."

Twisted fate was overjoyed when he finally saw the end of the staircase. The end of the staircase led to a path which was split into three—one left, one right, one front.

"Twisted fate, check on Katarina."

"Yes, Vayne."

 _Katarina, Talon, and men dressed like assassins (actually all of them were dressed like assassins) stood in a dark room with a small door behind them. Talon was holding a lantern, the only source of light which illuminated the room._

 _Most importantly, the dark room was right beneath their toes. A thin wall less than a meter thick separated their floor with the room beneath._

"There's a room beneath us. Katarina and her accomplices are right below our feet."

Upon hearing that Vayne and Lucian drew their weapons and pointed at the ground.

"Do they know we're here?"

"No. But for some reason, they're just standing in the room doing nothing—"

Twisted fate was interrupted mid-speech. A portion of the ceiling was torn apart as an object emerged from the hole. The fast-moving object then crashed into the ground. The ground beneath Twisted fate's toes cracked violently and collapsed in a split second. The gypsy felt the support on his feet disappearing and he fell into the giant hole created by the collapsing ground.

The Card Master could not believe it. How did the entire ground tear apart from just an impact from the object?

He saw Jarvan falling as well, who had stood nearby him. Vayne and Lucian were barely out of range and thus averted their falls.

Twisted fate need not look downwards to know where they would land eventually.

The room occupied by the Noxian Assassins.

* * *

 **Author's note:**

 **Noxians…Noxians everywhere. What will fate hold in store for the unfortunate Jarvan and Twisted fate?**


	25. Chapter 24

"Woah!"

Twisted fate's eyes shot open. He was still in a terrified state, remembering well that he was just descending into a room full of Noxians. But it was no longer the case.

He was still wearing his outfit, but his hands were tied in handcuffs. He was sitting on a soft black bench in a dim room, with white light piercing in from windows. Various men sat beside him, dressed in black armor without their helmets, and other men sat in front of him (there was a bench opposite him). Jarvan sat at the end of the bench, still wearing his armor but tied in handcuffs as well. Fortunately, the room was warm, for Twisted fate remembered well the chilliness outside.

The room shook occasionally, and Twisted fate thought it was quite similar to sitting in a car. In fact, the room he was in might be a car compartment.

Twisted fate thus presumed that they were in one of the black Noxian trucks he'd seen before his capture. And yes, Twisted fate figured out that he ended up here because he was captured.

He inspected the men sitting around him. Oddly, there was no Vayne or Lucian. Where were they?

"You're awake."

The Noxian sitting opposite him yawned, stretched his arms and gazed at him. He was a bearded man with a big nose.

"The legend himself. Right before my eyes."

Twisted fate gave a sigh.

"I've heard your stories. You're very well-known all over Runeterra. You're far more famous that you'll ever imagine."

Twisted fate had no idea whether he was praising him or something else.

"But you're weak. Much weaker than I thought."

 _Should've expected that._

"You saw us coming, didn't you? You could see us miles away when we're driving towards your location."

The gypsy grunted. He wasn't in a mood to answer questions.

"I bet you've intentionally tried your best not to cross paths with Katarina. She and her team went all over the place and couldn't see you."

 _That's right._

"But you couldn't see Agent 87."

 _?_

"He stood above you. He crashed down to your floor and tore all the way through to the large room below you. He even tore away an entire chunk of ground under your feet. You and the Demacian dropped to the ground where we awaited. Jarvan's back slammed on the ground, but you had the luxury of Agent 87 saving your ass. He grabbed you in mid-air and landed before you hit the ground like the prince. But by then you had already fainted."

 _Agent 87? Who is he? He can tear through stone, demolish the entire floor, leap to catch me mid-air and land unscathed? Those feats cannot be accomplished by any person._

"How can he do all of that at once?"

The man looked surprised. He did not expect an answer.

"For a while, I thought you were dumb. Well, even I don't have much of an idea about that. Agent 87 sits at the top of our ranks. He's an assassin with powers that we cannot imagine, mostly because he's a servant of the Master of Death. The Master of Death claims that he knows you well, so he might have found out a way to…bypass your abilities."

 _Hm. Explains why I can't see this so-called "Agent 87" in the temple._

"Tell me, Twisted fate. Why will you want to come here? Surely there aren't any banks here?"

"I never knew that the Frejlord has banks."

"The Frejlord?"

The man raised his eyebrows, seemingly bewildered by what he had just said. He dropped his mouth, then suddenly burst into continuous laughter, as if he had heard a funny joke.

"What is so funny?"

The gypsy was certain he did not mispronounce the name. The other men sitting beside him turned to look at the man (with their helmets on so he couldn't see their faces). The man, upon realizing that everyone had their sights on him, halted in order to prevent further embarrassment.

"No, no…what I mean is it's humorous that you think Noxians will choose to set a base in Avarosan land. No, no, that's too obvious. But if you have no idea where this place is…then keep it to yourself. You don't need to know."

The man then stopped speaking altogether, probably embarrassed by the men glaring at him, and closed his eyes. The truck was once again quiet except the noise created by the constant shaking.

The fear struck the gypsy again as he, too, stopped speaking. He was about to be sent to the Noxian's headquarters, along with Jarvan. But Jarvan's presence was of no use. What could the two of them do when put under Noxian surveillance? Escape was impossible, and any attempts would prove futile. Thus, rather than devising a plan, he pondered of the bad things that would happen to him soon.

What would happen to him later on? Beaten? Humiliated? Brainwashed? Tortured? Stabbed in the head? He had no idea.

He looked into his own brain. As expected, he couldn't feel any mana in his body. They were undoubtedly taken away from him. The gypsy was uncertain of his future, but he was certain that it wouldn't be pretty. There was the slightest of hope in him, however, that Destiny itself would interfere and get him out of this trouble.

"Time to get off the truck, folks."

The doors opened on his left. The men inside the car took their weapons and got off one by one. Twisted fate was elbowed by a man sitting beside him—he complied with the order and leapt off the truck.

The surroundings were completely different now. They were in a large warehouse with lights high up in the ceiling. Several black trucks were parked beside theirs, with men leaping off the compartment one by one. The gypsy could see the entrance of the warehouse behind them, closed. The majority of soldiers eyed him (he could tell by their helmets) which made him quite uncomfortable.

One particular truck caught his attention. Walking out of that truck were the assassins that supposedly took him down. He spotted the red-haired woman and the man with blades all over his body, called "Talon".

Then there was a person who caught his immediate attention.

Interestingly, this man not only did not wear a helmet but also had a bare chest. He wore a black scarf that covered his neck and mouth. His black hair was unusually long, extending to his back, yet tidy. A brown-looking garment surrounded his waist and anything below it.

The man's eyes glared right into his. Twisted fate instantly got nervous as he stared into the man's black eyeballs. There was something unnerving about the man's eyes which he could not explain. It was unexpectedly…scary. He had a feeling that this man was a force to be reckoned with.

 _Wait…is he the Agent 87?_

Someone pushed him from behind. Twisted fate turned to see a soldier standing behind him, pointing at the direction of the exit.

"Move, Twisted fate. Or we'll bash your brains out!"

The gypsy took no chance and hurried forward without a word. He noticed that the man (or Agent 87, as he presumed) took a sneaky glance at him for a split second before looking away.

He stepped into another corridor along with the Noxians. This corridor occupied a lot of people—in fact, hundreds of soldiers were walking around, crowding the area. To compensate, the corridor was wide and tall enough to space the soldiers. The corridor had walls built of brownish wood—expensive wood, as observed by the gypsy.

There was a large rectangular entrance on the right of the corridor with a metal door, which Twisted fate recognized to be a Hextech door (he had seen similarities in Piltover). He wondered what was behind the door because it was humongous in size.

"Stop goofing around, Twisted fate. March forward!"

The Hextech door wasn't the only door, however—there were many others in the corridor. They weren't as large as the initial one, however. Twisted fate watched as the men placed small cards on sensors beside the Hextech doors and entered as the doors gave way.

The gypsy looked up and saw a glass pane high above the ground on the wall. It was clear that behind the glass pane was a room. A figure could be seen behind the glass, but he was not just any typical figure.

The figure—a man—held a scepter made of steel. He was near bald with some hair in the middle, and his nose was unusually big. Anything below his nose was covered by green garment, including his mouth. The most striking characteristic, however, was the black bird on the man's shoulder. The black bird was a hideous beast, significantly larger than its own kind. If the red eyes, giant wingspan, and monstrous beaks were any guide, a clash with the bird would be a terrifying prospect. But Twisted fate had seen these birds before—notably in the forest, which was shot down by Vayne.

The looming figure standing above them all was no other than Swain, the infamous Master Tactician. His look was already villainous and cunning—even an idiot could work that out.

His crimson eyes stared down at him, and they kept eye contact for a few seconds. It was Swain who eventually decided to turn away, But even with his mouth hidden the gypsy supposed that behind the mask was an evil grin.

As Swain disappeared from the window, he noticed that they had reached the end of the corridor. One of the soldiers held a card at the sensor. The door then proceeded to give way and reveal what was behind.

It was more than familiar to Twisted fate—a jail hallway. This one looked no different from others—metal bars and the usual stuff.

"Get in."

The number of soldiers had reduced to only a few. The others were gone without a trace, and the corridor was hollow except for them. Still, the men were armed with heavy weapons and gear—certainly not a good time for any rebellious acts. Especially when Swain was right above you.

"That cell is your, Twisted fate. Get in!"

One of the men took out a set of keys, unlocked the jail door and gestured them to enter.

"Stop," came a voice from behind. "Lord Swain is here."

All of them turned back to see a large figure standing behind a group of soldiers. Undoubtedly, it was the same figure he saw at the window.

The men kneeled and bowed at the sight of Swain.

"Swain," spat Jarvan with a hostile tone. "How dare you show yourself in front of me."

"You haven't changed at all, Jarvan. Proud, confident, very Demacian-like…but you lack the intelligence and strength to be a threat."

Swain advanced towards them, step by step. The "tat-tat-tat" sound of his scepter made him the more menacing, and the bird beside him cawed in the creepiest way possible.

"What can you do now? You've fallen into my trap, your hands tied up, and now you choose to threaten me."

"Tell me, Swain. Who killed my father?"

"Technically, someone else conducted the killing. But your father's death…was ordered by me."

Jarvan roared and launched his fists forward, attempting to bash Swain's head with his fists, but was denied by his handcuffs. Two men standing beside the Demacian grabbed him instantly, dragging him back. Another man stood in front of Jarvan, drew out a small knife, held it right before his eyes for a few seconds before slashing the prince's cheeks.

A scar was formed on Jarvan's face, with trails of fresh blood running down his cheeks.

"Unfortunately, Jarvan, you are not in control here. You do it again, and I'll show you no mercy."

"You can kill me straight away now," said Jarvan. He was certainly bold.

"As much as I want to, there are more important affairs to attend to. Even with your death, Noxus still cannot conquer all of Runeterra. But when the Demon's portal is complete, all of you will suffer under my reign. My undead army will annihilate every nation. And yours, Jarvan, will be my prime target."

"You must have known what I'm talking about because you couldn't have reached here without that letter. The defeat of the High General was unexpected, but when news spread I knew you would track us down. But to reach the top of the Ironspike mountains there is only one way—to teleport from the College of Techmaturgy. I planned to strike you when you reached the portal, but you arrived far earlier than I expected. Still—escaping here is extremely difficult. I built a powerful radar here—it can detect anything within 20 miles. Your attempts in escaping have failed miserably, or else you won't be standing here."

 _Ironspike mountains? Damn, that was an unconventional location. But secretive enough._

"Still, I realize that you came in a group of four. Where are the other two?"

"They escaped," growled Jarvan. "And they will find a way to defeat you."

"Defeat me? I find it amusing that you think the four of you can beat the Noxian Empire. We have the best assassins of Runeterra standing right here. The Night Hunter might beat one or two, but can she defeat an entire army? I've never heard of the black guy, but he doesn't pose a threat to us. The radar will detect them and, soon, they will join you together in hell!"

"And before I actually put you to death, I want you to witness the destruction of your beloved family and nation. Your father's killed, and your mother's dead, but I know that there are those that you care about. When I unleash the wrath of my army on Demacia, I will let you witness the obliteration of your beloved nation. I will slaughter all but your loved ones. I will bring them personally to you—and tear them to shreds flesh by flesh. My birds will enjoy the snack of filthy Demacians. And then, when I confirm that every single Demacian is eliminated, I will send you to the Noxian Guillotine—performed by Darius himself. You will be humiliated and tortured greatly. By then, will you have my permission to die."

Jarvan's face was unmoved (still the angry look) but Twisted fate was obviously taken aback.

 _If Swain has planned such a gruesome death for Jarvan, what will become of me?_

 _Nah, I'm no Demacian and I'm not as hated by Swain, unlike Jarvan._

"While we wait for Vayne's capture, perhaps I should take you to a tour at the spot where the Demon's portal is constructed. Soldiers, take them and follow me to the Construction room."

Then Swain continued his chat with Jarvan.

"You see, this building we're standing in doesn't appear out of nowhere. This is actually one of the Noxian military bases in our nation. But we teleported the entire facility to the peak of the mountains."

"How?" asked Jarvan.

"Have you heard of the 'World Runes'?"

Jarvan's mouth was frozen wide open upon hearing that.

"World Runes? The ancient magical artifacts of immense power discovered thousands of years ago?"

"You do have some knowledge of Runes, I suppose. Yes, you are correct. The World Runes possess powers out of our imaginations. But these artifacts were gone missing after the Great Rune War. They were either buried deep under our toes or in unreachable locations. As far as I know, these Runes have not been rediscovered anymore since the War. But things have changed."

"Years ago, a man came to Noxus and requested to see me. I declined at first, but he was much determined. I am impressed, so I have no choice but to see what this man is up to. I was surprised, however, when he showed me a World Rune. I asked for my men to inspect, and yes, it was genuine. I asked what he had retrieved it from, and he told me he had a large stockpile of it. I asked what I could do in exchange for those Runes, and he struck me a deal—he would give us all of the Runes, we use it to open the gates for monsters to enter our realm, we take over Runeterra, and in return I will allow him to rule a portion of Valoran. I was skeptical at first, but then he showed me that he wasn't bluffing at all—the World Runes were fabulous sources of power, able to do anything we want—including transferring this very building from Noxus to this mountain. We needed a secret location to conceal our plans from your prying eyes, and the World Runes helped us do just that. I was reluctant to share the land with this...Master of Death, but the World Runes might as well fulfill our long-time desires to rule Runeterra."

Twisted fate was still trying to comprehend the information. It was a lot to take in.

"Why did you kill my father then? If you didn't kill my father, we would have never known that you were up to such a scheme. You could have finished constructing the portal without our knowledge. Now, you are foolish enough that you reveal all of your plans to me. Believe me, I will put an end to all of this, Swain."

Swain chuckled. Twisted fate noticed that Swain's chuckle was very weird. Like his ravens.

"I will ensure that you won't get out of that cell. You can keep bluffing about your fantasies of yourself saving the world."

"One thing I really hate about your father is that he was the one who united all nations against Noxus. He was the one who assembled all the ambassadors of every major nation and signed the "Treaty of Justice" that is intended to isolate Noxus. Yes, even Zaun, our ally, was in that treaty. Even if Zaun still provides support to our nations, it can't do anything significant without the interruption of other nations. This is one of the reasons I decided to cooperate with the Master of Death to wipe out every single nation on this land."

"Including Zaun. How inhumane you are. Wiping out your allies as well as your enemies."

"You know we don't work that way, Jarvan. Noxus might be cruel, but we welcome anyone who joins our mighty empire with open arms. Just think about it—our military is diverse—we have Noxians, Piltoverians, Zaunites, Frejlordians, Yordles, Shurimans…heck, we even have Demacians in our ranks. These people are wise in the way that they know their own nations have no saving, but Noxus is the one that will defeat and rule all of Runeterra eventually. They gain the respect of Noxus, and they live happily here, enjoying the luxuries and wealth of our nation."

"Bullshit. I will never fall for your lies."

"This is why I said you're unintelligent. You're blind to the reality right in front of you and instead, you just see the dreams and imaginations of a peaceful world under the rule of Demacia."

"Demacia does not rule Runeterra. Runeterra belongs to everyone and every nation!"

"Really? You think that none of us will be the ultimate conqueror? Demacia and Noxus have the strongest military among all nations. If it isn't me, it's you that will gain control of the land. Too bad I'm gaining the upper hand to wipe you out first."

"You're wrong, Swain. You just take it for granted that every nation wants Runeterra to be their own, whereas the reality is that Noxus is the only one with an expansionist policy. You are the blind one, Swain, even with your bird-like big eyes."

Swain then ceased talking. Twisted fate watched as they reached the large Hextech door the gypsy had seen right as he stepped into the corridor. One man placed his card on a sensor beside the door, and the door slid upwards.

"You always say Demacia is an international police. You uphold the values of justice and you interfere with disputes between nations. But I don't see much justice when our men infiltrated your ranks. When we bribed them with wealth and power, they succumbed easily. We thought that asking Demacians to switch sides will be difficult, but in only a night we have already convinced one percent of your army to join us in secret. I'm severely disappointed in the fact that a nation that believes 'Justice above all' has such a corrupted military. What is your say on that, Jarvan?"

This time, Jarvan did not say anything. He just stared at Swain with fiery eyes and grinding teeth, but no words came out of his mouth.

"I guess you have to concede the fact that you're disappointed as well. Or else why would such a large-scale incident happen in Demacia, right? I suppose you have put a considerable amount of trust on the High General. And look what he turned out to be."

They stepped into the door. Behind the Hextech door was another giant room, where many soldiers dwelled. A massive structure stood in the center.

The structure was quite high, with its height nearing the ceiling of the room and was a hemisphere in shape like a gate. It was like an arch as well because a smaller hemisphere was cut in the center. It was made of gold, with five circles on it that made the portal look symmetric. There were ladders and stages everywhere around the structure, with men climbing on them to reach the top of the portal. There were many workers–more than 50, at first glance.

"This is the Demon's portal, Jarvan. It is a machine fueled by the power of World Runes. They will connect the two realms and bring about the terrors of the Void and Shadow Isles to this world."

Twisted fate gasped. After all this time they've searched for the portal, it now stands right before his eyes. He couldn't believe his luck.

 _A beautiful and spectacular portal, in fact. If it isn't used for such devilish purposes._

"Why build a golden gate?" asked Jarvan.

"In order to teleport between dimensions, the magical energy must form a ring to surround the entrance. That is why it looks like an arch. But the raw magic of the Runes can easily shatter the material used to contain it. However, we used a special type of gold that is very much indestructible, so it wouldn't break apart when the portal activates."

Twisted fate liked the fact that Swain was totally oblivious to Twisted fate's presence. He was glad, though, that he need not take Swain's insults.

"Now that you've seen enough, it's time that I send you back into your cell so that you can realize how foolish you are to come here. Maybe I can even convince you to switch sides. It will be a miracle to see Prince Jarvan the Fourth become a Noxian."

"When I step out of this cell, Swain, I will find you, rip your ravens into pieces and stab you repeatedly to the point that you become unrecognizable as a dead body. I will dump you to a volcano and watch as you burn in eternal hell. Mark my words, Swain. The only thing that is keeping you alive is the handcuffs on my fists," Jarvan threatened.

One soldier tried to punch Jarvan at the face but was stopped by Swain.

"Let him make the hollow threats, soldier. He can keep talking but in the end, he'll just end up being a loser."

Swain stood in the distance as Jarvan and Twisted fate were forcefully taken to jail by the soldiers. Up till now, Swain had not removed his mask.

"Wait in your cell as we continue to search for your comrades."

* * *

 _What's that noise?_

It was the first question that popped out of Twisted fate's mind. Mainly because he awoke abruptly during his sleep and the first thing he heard were strange noises.

For some reason, he felt extraordinarily tired that day. Swain's little tour itself was not exhausting, but sitting in an isolated cell with no entertainment at all was an issue. It was nowhere comfortable sitting in such a small area without anything smooth to lean against, plus the fact that the temperature was unbearable. Spending a day here in the cell (he had no idea how long his stay was) made his back ache and his legs worn out. He was treated very harshly without any food or water supply until now. His lips were chapped and his throat was drier than a desert. He'd heard that dehydration could kill in less than three days, and he wasn't sure if he could get access to any more of the precious liquid.

The cell was pitch black. It was near silent, except for a distant sound of snoring which he had no idea who it belonged to.

He found it difficult to sleep though. Of the innumerous locations he had slept in the past, he found this cell to be the most uninhabitable—he had zero sense of security. Sooner or later a pest might emerge and bite him in the darkness, or a soldier might intrude and kill him mid-sleep. Either way, these threats induced him to keep himself awake by any means.

Twisted fate had tried his best to be conscious but must have accidentally dozed off. The gypsy just sat there, wondering what he could do. He wouldn't do anything simply because he couldn't. He had remained in the same position for hours, and decided to continue until the next day when the worse was to come.

 _Perhaps I should just go back to my dreams._

But his plans were thwarted as suddenly his pupils detected bright light.

The steel bars were pushed aside as Noxian soldiers intruded into his small cell. Their flashlights shone onto Twisted fate's face, blinding him.

"Hey, get the lights off me—mmph!"

The gypsy could feel his head wrapped up by something. His sight became dark instantly, and judging by the sound he could deduce what was happening—the soldiers was covering his head with a bag. He felt hands on his arms and was forcefully lifted off the ground, inducing him to stand by himself.

Though he wasn't quite pleased with the disruption the men created during his sleeping hours. But he wasn't the one in control. Worse still, why was he taken away?

"Wait…why take me now?"

"Swain has authorized you to a therapy session."

"Therapy? What's wrong with me?"

"You misunderstood, Twisted fate."

The gypsy heard a sinister chuckle.

"It's another term for 'torture'."

* * *

 **Author's note:**

 **A villainous Swain pulling the strings! Anyway, Twisted fate is next in line for an agonizing, unnerving torture! What will lie in store for him?**


	26. Chapter 25

Everything was dark.

Twisted fate had not a clue of where he currently was. His vision was in permanent darkness where he couldn't see a thing. The last thing he saw was the image of a few Noxian soldiers kidnapping him, and now he knew he was walking—under the guidance of unknown hands who pushed him from his back. It gave him the chills—God knows where he was heading to, especially in the middle of the night.

He could only hear the sound of footsteps. Nothing else.

Meanwhile, the gypsy was wondering what exactly was the "therapy" session. He had predicted that he would end up being tortured at some point. The question was, how? He would be relieved if he was subjected to a simple beating. But then this was Noxus. Anything can happen, in a very brutal way. Could he even survive the torture?

 _Hopefully so, because I don't really want my life to end here. Destiny has plans for my life ahead._

He felt someone gripping his shoulder as he was forced to halt. There came sounds of someone knocking on the door. A few seconds later, the door opened (judging by the sound). He staggered a few steps forward when he felt a push at his back. Someone grabbed both of his arms.

"Thank you for bringing him to me. You may leave now."

The voice was…pleasing. It was a male voice, but unlike the rough voices of the Noxians, this one was high-pitched and soft—like a kind man. It soothed his nerves, but then he realized a beautiful voice is always misleading. His experience had taught him well.

 _What does this man have in mind?_

He felt hands on his chest. The hands pushed his backwards, and his back collided with something as hard as a wall. Then he felt something fastening his arms and legs, holding them in place.

 _What was that?_

Suddenly, he was able to see again. The darkness around him disappeared because the bag covering his head was removed.

The gypsy was in a room. It was quite small in size, roughly the size of a typical bedroom. He flinched, though, when he noticed a jack o' lantern replacing a lamp on the ceiling. The carved pumpkin emitted an orange glow that created a creepy atmosphere in the room. There was a small desk as well at the corner.

He looked at himself and realized that he was leaning against a vertical wooden bench. His hands and legs were set in place by metal locks.

Standing in front of him was a skinny man dressed in a red costume. The costume reminded him of a clown—those he had seen in circuses. This one had a particularly unsettling appearance, however—eyeballs were missing from his white eyes, and his teeth were no different to those found in a lion's jaw.

"Hello, my friend! Welcome to the fun house!"

Yet his voice was in sharp contrast to his actual appearance. A soothing voice paired with a demonic look…

"Who the hell are you?"

"Relax, relax, my friend. Why so serious?"

It was true. The clown was nowhere serious. But it was unnecessary for him to be serious—he wasn't tied up on a bench, after all.

"Let me properly introduce myself. I am your therapist for today, and oh boy, how curious I am with your mind! Your brain needs a little bit of fixing, but don't worry, I'll try to make it painless."

 _Painless? I hope so._

"Make yourself comfortable on your rack. Because what's going to happen next might be…disturbing to you. But don't worry, you will leave in one piece…on condition that you cooperate with me."

 _He's getting creepier and creepier as he speaks._

"Ah yes, before we begin…you should take this first."

Twisted fate saw the man holding a gas jar full of green gas.

"This is a type of anesthetic. It'll keep your mind stable for anything that will happen later."

He removed the cover and released the gas, exposing it to Twisted fate's nose. The gypsy tried his best to hold his breath, but his oxygen supply was limited. The gas supply, however, seemed unlimited. Eventually, his patience ran out and he succumbed to the gas.

The smell of the gas was hypnotizing, making him light-headed and unaware of his surroundings. The cruel face of the jack o' lantern became blurred to him, and he saw two? Three clown duplicates? What?

 _How is this possible? What did I breathe in?_

"That's my boy. Be good, my friend. Or else the consequences with be unimaginable."

The clown's voice echoed and repeated itself in his mind. The initially calming voice became very, very annoying, and started to irritate him. His face told a different story though—Twisted fate looked very sleepy and worn out on the outside.

The clown then walked over to the desk and picked up a small black box, while his duplicates watched him. (Actually, the gypsy wasn't sure who's the real deal) He opened the cover, revealing its insides to consist of a handful of buttons.

"Now that you are in good condition, let us start our therapy session! Yeah, I know it rhymes perfectly, right? You must have noticed."

 _His voice is rhythmic as well. Hmph._

"Now, tell me what problems you have encountered recently. Mental ones, if possible."

He felt weird in a way that his mind was dizzy and unsteady but his hearing was perfectly fine—too fine, in fact, because the man's words echoed for more than a hundred times in his ears.

"You look quite confused, right? Don't worry, I'll turn you on first!"

 _Turn me on? Well, whatever._

 _Wait, turn me on? The hell? Is he a rapist—_

"Gah!"

He felt violent jolts all over his body, severely hurting his skin and nerves. It was a familiar feeling—one he had memory of when electrocuted in the lift back in Zaun.

He was electrocuted by the clown.

 _Now that is the reason why the clown said "turn me on". I didn't know he meant that literally._

It was unbelievably torturous to endure such pain since electrocution was a completely different story than simple punches and kicks. It was so excruciating that the gypsy shook uncontrollably like a lunatic, losing control of his own body. Heck, he would rather be kicked straight in the balls than to go through this suffering.

Contrary to the previous one, however, this one went on for a steady 10 seconds with the same voltage—the one before lasted for a little bit more than a second. But eventually, the electrocution stopped as he could no longer feel the jolts in his veins, though the pain persisted.

The clown's duplicates merged back to the original's body, grinning at the sight of him. Meanwhile, the gypsy's clothing was partially gone in smoke and his whole body became numb. His heartbeat became irregular, something he could feel, and it was no good news—any second that heartbeat could be gone, and so would the fragile life of his. The only thing he could do was to pray that the clown wouldn't go too far.

"Are you awake now, patient?"

"Y…e…s."

He could barely mumble the words.

"Your head is, in fact, a bit out of place. Perhaps I should help you readjust its position."

 _Readjust? That sounds creepy. Probably that clown made it up._

The man stood in front of the gypsy, placing his hands on his cheeks, then sliding all the way to his neck. It was then did Twisted fate notice that he wore gloves. The thing was, having someone else's hands on your neck was usually not a good sign.

"Let's count to three. One, two, three…SNAP!"

Twisted fate yelled simultaneously. Not only did the clown just count, but he managed to twist his neck with some force. Now his neck was in pain, and he found it agonizing to move his neck—but if he made no movement the initial pain would persist. His suffering was inescapable at this point.

"Now you look handsome, Twisted fate. Your head's in the right place!" cheered the man, who clapped his hands and looked satisfied with what he had done.

 _This man's a real lunatic. He shows no remorse in his eyes! Oh wait, he's got blank eyes anyway…but still proves he isn't a regular human. But if he's no human…then who is he?_

"Let me see…now I need to cure your nerve system. It reacts too slowly, as I see. You know what reaction speed is normal?"

Before the gypsy knew it, the clown delivered a swift punch to his face. His fist collided with his nose with full force, wounding his nose, and led to the bleeding of his nostrils.

"A normal person would be able to dodge. Or better, block it with his own hands."

 _Dude. I can't even move my head and hands. How am I supposed to dodge? He's obviously talking about nonsense._

"You're…sadistic."

The clown was inspecting his gloves when Twisted fate spoke. He looked up and stared at him attentively.

"Pardon me, my patient? I did not hear clearly."

Twisted fate was further enraged by his reply.

"YOU'RE…SADISTIC!"

He tried to shout, but his throat was injured by the electrocution and all he could do was muster words one by one. His voice was significantly lowered as well—so soft that it was barely louder than a whisper, despite his efforts to shout instead.

"Sadistic? You call me, a successful therapist, sadistic?"

The man's grin faded, which cheered up the gypsy instead. Deterring his smile was perhaps a way to distract him from his work, for every time the man unleashed his tortuous methods was when he was grinning.

"Yes…you're…sadistic."

The clown's smile went upside down to a frown. Twisted fate had never seen his frowns before—perhaps this was progress to free himself out of the clutches of this madman.

"I've made so many people smile…and you call me sadistic. You've…broken my heart. You make me cry instead of smile…"

 _Good. No one wants to see you smile anyway._

Just when the Card Master thought he was successful, he was proved wrong. For the clown's frown reversed back to a smile, and in only a matter of seconds he was happy once again—on the outside, that is.

"You have no idea how happy they are at the end. My patients—they called me sadistic in the beginning. But as they embraced my ways, they found that I was far from sadistic. I am a bringer of happiness! All of them ate their words, and so will you, Twisted fate. Allow me to give you a proper demonstration."

The man placed his fingers right under the gypsy's nose, on the blood trail. He stained his finger with blood, then drew two curved lines extended from the corner of his mouth. Twisted fate could work out that the clown had drawn a bloodied smile on his face.

"You're smiling now, see? You're happy."

 _Damn, he really is sadistic. He's either lying or that he can't see through his madness._

"Now, I will help you restore your reaction speed."

The clown went to the desk again and pulled out a small red box from its drawer. He returned to the gypsy and grinned yet again.

"What do you see?"

 _Well, all I can see is a box. Nothing else._

"That's…a…box."

"That's partially correct."

The box's cover popped off, and out sprung a figure—shaped like the clown's head—which caught Twisted fate out of surprise. It was mere inches away from his face as it popped out fully, and it had fully achieved its goal—to scare him out of his wits. His sound was broken and yet he screamed again at the top of his voice, across the whole room, and his body movements ceased completely as if he was frozen out of fear.

"I call it the 'jack-in-the-box'. As the name suggests, it contains a minimized version of myself. But look at it closely! It resembles me so well that I can call it my double! You know, I crafted my little boy all by myself. You like it?"

 _Not in the slightest._

"No."

The clown frowned yet again.

"Really? You don't like it?"

He shook his head in dismay.

"I can't believe you didn't like it. Don't worry though, if you don't like it then I'll show you another one."

He returned to the desk, put down the box, and took out another one from the drawer. Then he returned to him. This box was identical to the first one, with the same size and appearance. What could be different?

 _This time, I will be prepared. That little clown in the box won't jump-scare me again._

"Here's my next present. I'll make sure you'll love it."

Twisted fate set his eyes on the box. The lid, in particular. Any second the lid will pop off and a clown-like figure would spring out. But he was prepared this time—no matter how scary it would look or how fast it would pounce, he would not be affected in any way. The gypsy was confident.

 _Not this time, freak._

The man was still holding the box, which had remained in place. The lid did not pop off.

Yet.

"Tell me, Twisted fate. Do you know what happens when a heart pumps too quickly? I'm talking about the one under your chest, beating for the sake of your survival."

 _That's a tough question._

He knew what would happen when a heart pumped too slowly. But too quickly? He had never seen that before. In addition, this question was utterly unrelated to his current situation.

 _Or maybe he is hinting that I will be scared to death._

"You…will…fail…to scare…me."

His throat still wasn't quite well. Meanwhile, the clown's grin widened upon hearing what he had said.

"Maybe I won't. But I am not the one to scare you."

It was at this very moment did the lid pop off and the figure inside sprung out. Twisted fate saw it—and expected it. He stiffened his face, eager to preventing himself from shock.

If the figure that pounced out was yet another clown figure, he would not have screamed. But what he did not expect was the figure to be an eight-legged creature, attaching to his face upon being sprung. It was as large as the size of his face, so Twisted fate could easily see the hairy abdomen of the creature right in front of his eyes.

The gypsy had vowed not to scream. But his instincts took over when the realization dawned on him that it was a living spider standing on top of his face.

"HELP! SPIDER!"

The sounds of Twisted fate's desperate shrieks were so loud even his own ears couldn't withstand. His hands struggled in the metal chains violently, and his face turned so white it seemed he had run out of blood. He was shaking his face as well to fend off the spider, but to no avail. Its legs stuck to his face like glue.

The clown laughed yet again upon seeing the gypsy's reaction.

"I heard you are afraid of spiders. Well, this is a tarantula found in the Kumungu jungle. It has some really spectacular poison, but I mutated the spider so that now one bite from it can increase your heart rate by more than 50%. Two bites, and your heart will beat twice as fast as it will now."

The tarantula—black in colour—displayed its two white fangs, which hovered just above his eyes. Any movement from him, and it might result in permanent blindness.

 _No no no…please, no. Anywhere but the eye. No, please—_

The spider raised its fangs, ready to sink it into his eyes. Twisted fate then shut his eyelids in fear.

Seconds later his felt sharp pain on his face. Not his eyes, fortunately, but on his eyebrows. He looked up and saw the white fangs sunk right above his eyes. Unfortunately, he screamed again.

"The effects will kick in in only a matter of seconds, I predict. Soon your heart rate will speed up and you will experience something unprecedented to your body."

As the man spoke Twisted fate noticed his vision turning red. Everything he saw, including the spider's abdomen, the room, the jack o'lantern, the clown…all emitted the colour of blood.

"If you can see what your eyes look like, you'll be astonished. Yes, it's beautifully red."

Twisted fate then felt his nose…bleeding. Not only the nose, however, but his ears as well. The drops of blood landed on the floor beneath his feet. Yet the only thing that he could hear in his mind were his own rapid heartbeats, like a drum. Like the clown said, this was something he had never experienced before. And it felt horrible.

The clown laughed once again, displaying his snow-white teeth.

"You like it, Twisted fate? A completely refreshing feeling."

The gypsy wanted to retaliate, but found himself unable to speak as he coughed blood instead. But if there's one thing he couldn't take his eyes off, it was the dreaded spider.

The tarantula wasted no time and crawled away from his face to his hair. It stood on his head and made no further movement.

"Now," said the clown as he slowly drew out a knife from his pocket, "let me perform a little surgery on you."

"Surgery?"

"Yes. I'll try to make it painless."

Then without another word he plunged the knife into his stomach, which made Twisted fate give an anguished cry.

"Oh sorry, did I injure you? My bad, my bad."

His sound did make him sound apologetic, but he couldn't have **accidentally** stabbed him. In addition, the knife was still deep in his flesh. The clown had no intention to pull it out.

"But I wonder what will happen if the knife…cuts downwards."

The knife slid down his stomach, cutting out a knife-sized flesh wound. Twisted fate could only watch helplessly as the clown carved out a red "smile". Blood fell like in a waterfall, and there was already a mini blood pool beneath his feet. The scene was gruesome and horrendous—Twisted fate already had nausea as he kept watching his poor body.

"Vladimir would have enjoyed this," remarked the clown.

At last, he told himself that he could no longer take it.

"Please…just kill me. I can stand this no more."

"Whoa! You misunderstood! I had no intention to kill you!" replied the clown. "I'm just fulfilling my job as a therapist—to treat your terminal mental illness!"

"Me? You are the one with mental—OOMPH!"

He coughed out blood again, just as his mind started to fade. He realized that his blood had finally run out and that his life was about to come to an end.

 _Well, I wonder why Destiny hasn't helped me a hand._

He closed his eyes for one last hope that something would happen. Anything would do—the clown stabbing himself for no reason, Vayne and Lucian breaking into the room, he himself suddenly getting regeneration powers…but these ain't gonna happen.

 _Wait. Why am I able to think straight again?_

It was then did he realize that he was very much alive. The pain was gone. He felt good, for he could feel that the spider on his head had disappeared.

 _Am I…reborn?_

Carefully he loosened his eyelids and allowed his eyes to see again. It was the same room with the jack o' lantern at the ceiling and the desk at the corner. The clown himself leaned against the wall in a distance, no longer holding a knife. He was staring at a box he was holding.

He looked down and saw himself—unscathed. He couldn't feel the tarantula's legs crawling on his head, nor did he feel the pain resulting from his stomach's wound, because there was no wound at all. It had vanished without a trace.

 _This…this must be the work of Destiny._

He was overjoyed. But at the same time, he was confused.

"Why…why am I uninjured? I was…I was stabbed in the stomach…"

Even his throat was all right. He could speak normally, unlike seconds ago.

The clown turned his attention to the gypsy.

"Oh, you think everything that just happened was all real?"

"Wait…wasn't it real?"

The clown laughed. But this time it wasn't nearly as scary, for there were no longer echoes in his mind. It was just a plain, simple laugh, though retaining its creepiness.

"It was all just an illusion. An illusion that originates from the green gas."

"Green gas?"

"Don't you remember? You breathed in a green gas from a jar."

The memory returned to Twisted fate's mind as the man spoke.

"Yes. I did."

"That gas…is my latest creation. No need to explain the details, just that it makes someone...very excited. Like you, just now. You were screaming and yelling in joy, begging for more. Too bad what you see and feel only exists in the virtual world—something that I cannot witness. But I am confident that you had a great time with me."

Suddenly Noxian soldiers intruded the room from the door, holding a bag, which they had used to cover his head when he was brought to this room. His vision returned to darkness as the men forced the bag on his head.

"But you are lucky, Twisted fate. Your therapist session ended early because of one person," the clown continued.

"Who?"

 _How can someone choose to save me here?_

"Agent 87 has, unfortunately, strict orders of not to harm you."

* * *

"You didn't scream at all."

It was the first thing that Twisted fate heard when his bag was removed. A Noxian stood before him, holding the black bag. They were in the Card Master's own cell.

"I'm actually surprised that you didn't go insane."

"Almost did. But alas, I am quite a strong-willed person."

"You? A strong-willed person?" The guard chuckled in response. Twisted fate almost laughed as well for his lie.

"But you did survive his therapy session. I cannot deny that. You earned my respect—by a little. Now stay in your cell."

Before Twisted fate could ask anything else the guard left the cell. To his surprise, he went left instead of right.

 _Why wasn't he heading for the exit?_

His question as automatically answered when he heard shouting, which he recognized to be Jarvan's. He saw Jarvan walking out of the cell with his head covered by a bag. The gypsy knew what lied in store for the prince, but what could he do? Warning Jarvan in front of the guards would not only further endanger Jarvan, but himself as well.

As he heard the jail door close, he sat down and sighed in relief. The torture—one he had dreaded since he was forced out of his cell—had finally ended.

It was out of his expectations. For one, he was physically unharmed during the entire session. The wounds inflicted in the room, like the tarantula's bite and the clown's knife wound in his stomach, were gone without a trace. Despite him believing the clown's words that it was all an illusion, he was perplexed to why it all felt so real. The pain was definitely real.

He felt alright now. It was probably another relief that he could rest in peace here—at least for this night.

 _Glad there are no side effects for that. I only want to experience that once. Never again._

But if the goal of the entire torture was to cripple someone mentally, it was successful. From now on, Twisted fate would have a bad history with clowns, other than spiders.

Suddenly, he heard the opening of the jail door.

 _Who's that? Is that something's going to happen to me again?_

The door was closed. Obviously, someone else was in the jail. Twisted fate waited for someone to show up, but it was silent with no footsteps.

 _Did a ghost open the door? Or is it—_

"Hello! My friend!"

To his horror, standing behind the bars was the clown yet again. He was there with the infamous grin on his face.

"Glad to see you again!"

"No!"

Twisted fate backed off. He noticed the metal handcuffs still on his hands, and thus he wouldn't be able to do anything if he entered.

"Why are you here? You said the session's done!"

"Oh yes, it might be done. But it doesn't mean that I can't have more fun."

Even worse, the clown took out a set of keys. He inserted the key into the keyhole and to the gypsy's surprise, opened the cell door.

"No…this can't happen. No."

"Yes, this is happening. Yes."

Twisted fate was trembling with fear. The memories of his pain in the room returned to his mind, and he feared that he would experience them all again.

As the clown approached him, he decided to take his chances. Twisted fate launched a kick towards the clown, hoping he would somehow hit and knock out the clown by chance.

But the clown firmly grabbed his leg with his own hand. Then for some reason, he let go of his leg.

Twisted fate's leg hovered in the air while he himself was trying to comprehend why the clown chose to simply release his leg. It was rather awkward.

"What am I doing? Why did I let go of you?" asked the clown. His grin was gone, replaced by a confused look. Meanwhile, the gypsy was confused as well.

Then the clown said something weirder.

"Blink your eyes."

"What?"

"Blink your eyes. Rapidly for a few seconds."

Twisted fate was even more confused, but he did so nevertheless. But after blinking a few times the clown's image has changed. He was replaced by another man, a muscular, bare-chested man.

"You're in shock."

It was the man who had allegedly saved him from the clown's therapy.

"You're…you're Agent 87."

"It's good that you recognized me. I thought you would be brain-dead after Shaco's treatment."

"Shaco?"

"The clown guy you met just now. Joined the Noxian ranks many years ago, though no one knew his true identity or origin. Never fought in battle, but deals exclusively with prisoners of war. Torments them to the point that they tear themselves apart with their bare hands. Most mystifying of all is the fact that he smiles all the time, even when he is killing someone cold-blooded. He rejoices when watching his victims do horrible things. A creature of the Void, as some presume. But he's definitely mysterious."

Twisted fate was surprised not just because the Agent knew so much about Shaco, but because of how he managed to appear in front of him when he was Shaco himself a few seconds ago."

"I saw you as…someone else. You were Shaco."

"I understand. You are experiencing the after-effects of his gas. I call it the "Nightmare Gas" because its victims always experience visions of their demise through their own nightmares. They see illusions that they perceive to be true. And it's easy to think that's it's genuine because you feel besides seeing. Especially pain. It's hard to perceive pain as an illusion."

"How can real pain happen in virtual nightmares?"

"Again, Shaco's origins are mysterious. So is his own weapons."

"Why tell me all of this?"

"You apparently do not understand why I decided to save you in the temple. From that fall."

"Wait, what?"

"I could have left you to your fall. You will survive, but your body will suffer serious bone fractures and brain injury. I prevented you from becoming paralysed, because of one simple thing."

Twisted fate wasn't quite sure whether what he said was true. On the contrary, he was certain that he wouldn't suffer such injuries from that fall because he would end up being dead already. Though he was curious of why exactly Agent 87 displayed such compassion.

"Which is?"

"I am no Noxian. I'm here because I managed to sneak into the Noxian military years ago and act as a spy. I figured out they had a grand scheme that might threaten the safety of this land, but I need help to defeat them. I want to make a deal with you."

 _A deal? Interesting._

A gamble was something he would treasure in such a desperate situation. He would take any chances to free himself from the clutches of Noxus.

"What is your deal, Agent 87?"

"I can help you get out of here—if you help me do something."

"Ok. What should I do?"

"I shall tell you the details tomorrow. Not now, because the gas hinders your memory significantly—but it usually wears off after some sleep. Which is something you need now."

"Agreed."

"Prepare for the trials of tomorrow. Tomorrow will not be an easy day for you."

"Ok."

Agent 87 then left the cell and closed the door.

"Wait, Agent 87."

He turned to face him.

"Do you have a real name?"

He raised his eyebrows.

"You don't need to know my real name at this stage."

* * *

 **Author's note:**

 **Well, that torture could have gone far more awry if it wasn't for the T rating. (Seriously, that scene has a lot of potential as it's fundamentally virtual.) Luckily, Agent 87 interfered and prevented Twisted fate from going insane.**

 **Frankly speaking, psychological torture is undoubtedly more consequential and devastating to a person, at least for me.**

 **By the way, I shall inform you that this story will end at Chapter 30. (It might not come as a surprise, since we can already feel the ending is near.) Anyway, kudos to all of you who have read this far into the story, and even more kudos to those who have reviewed/favorited/followed this story. Your very presence is the driving force for me to continue writing this.**


	27. Chapter 26

Vayne did not expect the stone beneath her to collapse.

That was the reason why she was no less surprised when it did. The ground cracked and tore itself apart, its debris descending downwards into a secret room beneath the ground, piece by piece.

By instinct, she drew her grappling gun and pointed it at the ceiling. The gun was fired, and the hook attached itself to the ceiling, pulling her out from the destruction. She ultimately landed on stable ground, saving herself from suffering the same fate as Twisted fate and Jarvan.

She surveyed her surroundings. There was a massive hole in front of her on the floor, and interestingly a man-sized hole in the ceiling. The lamps went out and thus the whole corridor was pitch black—she could see however because of her goggles.

Then there was Lucian, who stood nearby at the edge of the hole. He was panting for breath, apparently shocked by the event as well.

Vayne glanced down the hole. There were various Noxian soldiers in the room, including the infamous Katarina and Talon. They surrounded someone lying on the ground, which turned out to be the Demacian prince. He seemed unconscious, and was handcuffed swiftly by the Noxians.

On the other side of the room was another Noxian, whose outfit was distinct from the others. He was bare-chested, wore a black scarf, and wore a brown garment on his waist. In his hands was the gypsy, who appeared to be unconscious as well.

"We got the Demacian poster-boy," said Katarina, "and a worthless Card Master."

"Good. They won't be able to escape from us. The guards must resume their duties to monitor this temple. We cannot risk the World Runes being stolen."

"Yes, Agent 87."

"Now we leave. These two will be dealt with by Swain."

As the Noxians dragged the two of them and left the room, Katarina approached Agent 87 and wrapped her arm around his shoulder.

"I like that grand entrance. Standing on the third floor, crashing down to the second and tearing apart the floor so that they land on the first floor, where we await. I finally understand why you told us to wait here."

"Only I have the required strength to punch through stone."

"Don't you think there's more than the two of them? I can't believe they would come alone."

Agent 87 paused for a split second.

"There might be, but I only see the two of them on the second floor. You can make a thorough inspection in this temple if you want to be sure."

"That'll be unnecessary."

Vayne could hardly hear their conversation as their voices drifted away into the darkness. Then she felt hands on her cheeks, only to find Lucian locking eyes with her, face to face.

"We can't reliably fight against all of them. They're all highly-trained Noxian assassins who excel in hand-to-hand combat, not to mention that Agent 87 who can punch through stone. If we fail, we will be captured as well."

"Obviously, Lucian."

"Dammit. I have no clue of what to do. Who knows what will happen to the two of them? Noxians have a personal grudge against Jarvan—I don't know if he would survive that. But if we have leapt down and saved them, I'm not confident that we could beat them all."

"My guess is that Jarvan won't be executed immediately. Not sure about Twisted fate though."

"Hopefully you're correct," sighed Lucian. "Or else I would have chosen to fight to the death."

"How about if we explore this temple first. And by the way, did you hear Agent 87 mention something about the 'World Runes'?"

"I noticed. I remember them saying something like 'we cannot risk the World Runes being stolen'."

"You think the World Runes they're referring to are—"

"The mystical ones. The ones with immense power, I guess. Or else they won't be so obsessed with it. After all, Noxus is all about 'power'."

"But aren't they supposed to be extinct? Or…"

"It's very difficult to prove that something does not exist, sweetheart. And as far as I know, these World Runes might be lurking in this very temple. And if we actually get to obtain them…"

"—we'll be unstoppable in terms of power."

"It might be the only way we can contend with the raw strength of the Noxians."

"We'd better move on now, because they might be tightening security or moving the Runes out of this place. Getting them as soon as possible is a priority."

They ventured further into the corridor. As they went farther and farther away from the hole it was noticed that the lamps reappeared again. The duo advanced in silent steps, like stalkers. Both of them have trained themselves to operate like ninjas, hence the reason why they act stealthily. Neither of them spoke anything as well.

Vayne held her Detector tightly. Moments later it vibrated, signaling that someone was nearby. She gave Lucian a gesture, which he immediately understood and readied his own weapons.

A group of soldiers was ahead of them, walking towards their direction. They were armed with swords and dressed in heavy black armor. Vayne and Lucian hide behind the corner, out of their sight.

Lucian raised all five of his fingers to Vayne, suggesting the number of enemies they would face. She reciprocated by giving an "ok" gesture, then waited.

Neither of them said anything, but they both knew what to do—wait until the soldiers turn around the corner, then ambush. They could choose to shoot at them right away, but a stealth attack was the wiser option, especially when they had the element of surprise.

"What do you think will become of us after this? After the fall of Demacia?"

"We will rule Runeterra! Noxus will be the one and only nation standing. Think of all the glory we will have!"

"For me, I'll spend all of my time in Draven's arena. Can't wait to have some fun with the ladies."

"I'll miss the times now though. The feeling when I slaughtered those puny Demacians a few years ago—you know, we should hold a killing contest when we attack Demacia. To see who slaughters the most of them. Bonus points to slaying officials. What's your thought on that?"

"Pretty good, actually. I like the sound of that—"

He couldn't finish his sentence as Lucian fired his gun right in front of the Noxian's face. As the others reacted in shock, Vayne emerged from the corner as well and fired three separate bolts at their chests all at the same time.

The bolts easily pierced through the armor and effortlessly went deep into their chests, killing three of them, while the other had his head blasted open by Lucian. Everything happened too quickly, and when the lone survivor realized his current condition, he dropped his mouth completely and watched in horror as the Night Hunters approached him, having dealt with the others. Their appearances were already frightening (the mysterious glasses and lethal weapons), and to compound the problem the soldier was alone all by himself.

"You're lucky you lived," remarked Vayne.

"Don't you dare…threaten me," uttered the Noxian, trembling and holding his sword. "When my boss knows of your presence, both of you will suffer—and you will beg for mercy—"

He found his waist with a silver bolt, pierced through his armor. Normally being stabbed in the waist wasn't too much of a big deal, but the bolt sent excruciating ripples of pain through his nerve system. His legs collapsed to the floor as he watched his wound turn into the colour of black.

"What's…what's happening to me?"

"The bolt contains a modified type of silver. This kind of silver is toxic—it corrodes and dissolves any flesh it touches. It kills monsters instantly and efficiently, but for humans…they won't die right on impact, but they have to endure the pain brought by the bolt."

The soldier clenched his teeth, the affliction clear-cut on his face.

"You're a freak! You're no better than us. You're killers, just like the assassins in our nation. But ours kill for a cause—you kill just for the pleasure. I've heard your stories, Night Hunter, and you kill monsters and even humans without remorse. Demacians should fight for justice, right? Well, you certainly look like a criminal than an actual hero."

Vayne grabbed the man's throat tightly in an attempt to strangle him.

"One. I kill for a cause—to wipe this world clean of corrupted beings like you. Two, I might be Demacian, but I am not nearly as forgiving as them. Especially with bastards like you that don't deserve any redemption."

"She's no typical Demacian. She's very keen on torture—and she often resorts to these methods," added Lucian.

"Now, tell me where the World Runes are, or else."

"Me? Give away the location of the Runes? Ha! You think I will tell you?" challenged the soldier. "I can endure pain very well."

"Well, if I were you, I wouldn't take any chances. Trust me, you will regret what you have just said."

"I don't think so, black man. You can't escape from this place. You beat me once, and they'll punish you heavily for it. You dare?"

The soldier howled in agony, however, when Vayne kicked the bolt deeper into his waist; similar to a hammer punching a nail into place.

"That should have impaled your intestines. In the next few minutes you will experience anything but not limited to nausea, vomiting, rectal bleeding, bacterial infection—"

"No, no, please, just stop! I didn't know you would actually do that!"

The arrogant, strong-willed soldier swiftly turned into a broken, tearful victim of Vayne's.

"Just tell me what you want. I'll spill the beans at once! Please, please!"

Vayne and Lucian exchanged glances. They didn't expect things to escalate this quickly.

"Where are the Runes?"

"There's…there's a tower at the end of this corridor. The Runes are at the top of the tower."

"How many men are there?"

The soldier was hesitant to disclose the number.

"I'm not done with you yet."

"At least a hundred. I swear, I swear it's true!"

Vayne then proceeded to pull out the bolt from his torso. The man fainted without a word, however, possibly due to the unbearable pain.

"That was quite cruel of you," remarked Lucian while watching the scene. "He's no different to being dead."

"I don't see why I should show any kindness to Noxian scum. You heard them, they enjoyed slaughtering Demacians. Now they have a taste of their own medicine."

"…you do have a point."

The duo left the bodies behind and ventured forward. Minutes later, they encountered stairs that led upwards, where some light can be spotted at the top.

"This should lead to the tower."

They advanced the stairs stealthily, one step at a time, with their weapons armed.

"One hundred. I suppose it wouldn't be easy," reminded Lucian.

"Wouldn't be hard either," she replied. He nodded in response.

They happened to emerge from an opening on the floor, which they found themselves surrounded by four walls and a ceiling. The chamber's walls were painted grey, like those found in medieval structures. Interestingly, there was a chandelier at the top of their heads.

A group of men stood not far away, drinking glasses of wine. Actually, there were groups of men doing the same thing. They were interrupted, however, when Vayne and Lucian emerged from the opening. One of them dropped the bottle and it smashed into smithereens on the solid ground, spilling the wine everywhere and disrupting the silent atmosphere.

"Oh, God," said Lucian, who loaded his guns with a "click". "We'd better live through this."

The soldiers drew their swords without hesitation and charged towards the two of them.

Lucian pulled the trigger. Multiple and repetitive bangs ensued as the pistols fired one by one, producing deafening noises and firing white lasers at his enemies. The Noxians' armor proved to be futile as the light pierced through their armor and into their bodies. One by one they fell to the lasers, further proved by the smoking holes on their chest-plates or heads. The Purifier was precise—his targets were either their heads or hearts, both fatal positions. Some tried to parry the shots with their swords but ended up cutting their weapons in half. Nothing could stop Lucian's shots—he was unstoppable.

It was thrilling and exhilarating to wield guns—after all, guns were a rarity in a world where melee weapons dominate. He felt dominant in a way that he owned one of the best ranged weapons, with its projectiles deadlier than a hundred swords combined. (Literally.) Taking down enemies before they could even close the distance was a very satisfying method to fight.

Piltover and Zaun had guns as well (other nations share a conservative view on their military, that is, to fight bravely with traditional weapons), but they were nowhere good as Lucian's. They were much heavier, had less firepower, and most importantly had a limited amount of ammo. (Sunlight was the ammo of Lucian's guns, and even without light energy it could fire a few thousand rounds by itself.) No one other than Vayne had seen his guns, however, and people who had seen his shots **and** managed to get out alive dismissed it simply as magical spells.

"Charge!"

One soldier managed to close the distance and leapt into the air, in a position to stab him at the head. Still firing in the other direction, Lucian sidestepped his strike somewhat narrowly, then proceeded to blow his head up with a pistol to his face.

Just then, he saw something at the corner of his eye. An arrow was speeding through the air on a path that will undoubtedly coincide with his head. Instinctively he crouched down and fired at the direction where the arrow came from. Turned out that there was an archer behind the groups of men, holding typical wooden bows and launching arrows without being under direct fire.

But now that one of them had gone down, Lucian noticed there were more archers than meets the eye. Several bow-wielders aimed at him, already taking aim.

There weren't many men left, however, with the others lying on the ground lifeless, so Lucian could easily target them and gunned them down in mere seconds before they had a chance to react.

He turned to see more soldiers turn up from a corner in the chamber—it was revealed that there was a staircase at the corner which he previously had not noticed. He saw Vayne as well, who was busy dealing with a few soldiers who cornered her.

"Shauna, we've got more company at that staircase! There are more of them upstairs!" he shouted as he shot a few of the guards to assist Vayne.

"I got them. Let me get the 'pineapple'—wait, I might have run out of those—"

"Never mind, I got them."

Lucian aimed at the soldiers and pressed the trigger. A barrage of light missile bombarded the men, screaming as their surroundings gradually turned into an ocean of fire. A few seconds later the guns even doubled the firepower automatically, essentially turning the entire scene into a fireworks show with drums in the background.

He kept firing until he felt someone touch his shoulder.

"That's overkill, Lucian. You're blowing this place up."

"Oh, right." He lifted his fingers off the triggers, and even then it took three seconds for the guns to cease firing.

"You can't deny that gunning them down with this kind of firepower is exciting and exhilarating. Like it's great to see these Noxian scum burn and die in explosions over and over again."

"Hmph." Vayne kept her stern face.

"Don't try to fool me, sweetheart. Deep down I know you're jealous that you can't produce such a great result."

"We're heading up the stairs. Now."

The Night Hunter went off without saying a word. Meanwhile, Lucian looked around.

Noxian bodies laid on the floor, mostly with silver bolts on their heads or burning holes on their chest-plates. It was quite the sight—and quite the sympathetic one, like a land of slaughter.

Which reminded him of an event that happened some time ago.

" _You've been to the wrong place, human."_

 _Maybe he had. Especially in such a desolated area devoid of any living creatures or humans. Only monsters out of the imagination of humans remained._

" _What makes you wander in the Shadow Isles, young man?"_

 _Lucian himself did wonder why he would choose to leave his cozy, warm home to such a miserable place filled with death and destruction. But his ambitions were not forgotten._

" _One of your kind took away my sister, Senna. I'm here for vengeance—and for my sister."_

" _Your sister? Is it the cute girl taken by the Chain Warden? She will be trapped in his Lantern forever, never to break free! What's the point of saving her when you are powerless?"_

 _The demons and tormented souls howled with laughter, just like Thresh's when he took away his sister, Senna._

 _Lucian could not hold himself when tears streamed down his cheeks. Losing her was a sad memory, essentially leaving the Purifier alone as a lone walker in Runeterra, to live a life of isolation and despair until death, where the Shadow Isles would collect his soul and take him as a prisoner. Sometimes he wondered if his death would cause the reunification of himself and his sister, but realized the cruelty of those in the Isles would do him anything but good._

 _If he couldn't save his sister, what was the point in coming here?_

" _I might be here to save my sister…"_

 _He loaded his guns and placed his fingers on the triggers. Some of the ghosts scoffed at him._

" _He thinks a gun can kill us! HA!"_

"— _but if you're telling me that I cannot save her…"_

 _Lucian shut his eyes, suppressing himself of his emotions. He couldn't bear it, even though he had cried non-stop upon losing Senna._

"— _then I'm here for only one purpose."_

 _He raised his guns at the ghosts and monsters, who formed a circle around him. Hundreds of them._

" _I won't let anyone suffer because of the Shadow Isles. Ever again."_

 _Lucian's eyes became red, fueled with rage and emotion. He shouted before firing, and watched rows of ghosts dissolve into nothingness as bright light pierced through their bodies._

 _By the time he placed his guns back into his pocket the entire place was full of bodies and black mist—monsters of all kinds. The scene was horrific, and one that he would remember throughout his entire lifetime._

One that mirrored the sight of lifeless Noxian soldiers lying on the floor.

"You're crying."

Vayne stood in front of him, holding his glasses and thus exposing his wet eyes.

"No, I'm…never mind."

"I saw those eyes before. You're disturbed by memories of the past, aren't you?"

There was no point in denial. She wasn't a professional detective for nothing.

"It's something about Senna. Forget that though, securing the Runes is the number-one priority."

Lucian could tell Vayne was skeptical, even with the sunglasses. He noticed that she stood abnormally close to him, her hands on his shoulders and her eyes (or sunglasses) staring right into his. Intimacy was something she had never displayed in public, and he was glad that he could see a very hidden side of Vayne's—something she had kept exclusively between themselves.

"We'll talk about that later. Now we'd better get out of this place at once before the reinforcements come and kick our asses."

He was proud of his own optimism—the ability to smile again after a negative event. Vayne seemed pleased as well, as Lucian could see that subtle smile at the corner of her lips. This time, she accompanied him while they headed upstairs.

"Did you see anyone upstairs?"

"No. I presume they've all come downstairs."

The second floor was an identical chamber, but with no bodies this time. There was another staircase in the distance, however.

"We should probably keep ascending. The Runes should be at the top floor," suggested Lucian.

A few soldiers emerged from the staircase and shouted, but were silenced instantly by Lucian.

"When we're done with this, give me some time to reclaim the bolts and arrows. I'm going to run out of ammo any second."

"Sure."

When they reached the third floor, however, they witnessed something unseen in their past lives.

It was yet another identical chamber, but in the middle of the room was a large ancient-looking stone bowl, and inside the bowl were golden, glimmering artifacts that illuminated the room. Nearby the bowl were four similar-looking stone statues which looked like lizards and had red crystals on their skin.

"Wow. Are those the…"

"Runes. Very possibly so."

Even they couldn't believe it. The ancient Runes that had once completely altered the shape of the world and provoked a Rune War were right in front of their very eyes. They held powers that were literally limitless, in a sense.

"So I suppose we can just take them and leave," suggested Lucian. Vayne shook her head, however.

"No. We can't."

"Huh?" Lucian stared at his partner incredulously.

"World Runes cannot be taken simply by hand. The artifacts contain magical powers so strong that it exterminates souls that touch them physically."

"Really? I didn't know that. So, what do we do?"

"It's not as difficult as you think. Anything that can insulate ourselves directly from the Runes will do. That means gloves."

"And I thought getting the Runes is an impossible task. Wait, how about the statues?"

The lizard-statues remained there, unmoved. But their animalistic appearances seemed to prove otherwise. They had eyes, mouths, ears, tails, legs—mirroring actual ones.

"Are they actually statues?"

"I was wondering. Let me conduct a simple test."

Vayne loaded her crossbow with an arrow—one she borrowed from the Noxian archers. The arrow flew across the chamber at a reduced speed towards the statues. Lucian watched the statues, wondering if they would make a move when the arrow lands on their stone backs.

The next thing he knew were four separate red lasers emitted from the "eyes" of the lizards, all towards the same direction. Before Lucian could blink the arrow was disintegrated right before his eyes by the red lasers, and when the lasers disappeared the remains of the arrow was evident—nothing.

Lucian was mortified. Everything happened too quickly.

"Well, technically they didn't move at all," he still managed to utter. He guessed that Vayne must have rolled her eyes on his remark.

"They seem to be guardians of the Runes. We don't seem to be capable of bypassing them if they can delete us at sight."

"You're right."

They stood at the spot, contemplating of what to do with the Runes, and the not-so-lifeless lizard statues.

"Maybe I should try and distract them."

Lucian pointed his gun at the ceiling and fired. The ear-popping sound echoed over the whole chamber, but the lizards made no move as if they were deaf.

"They can't be distracted. They just sit there and disintegrate anything that intrudes their space. Getting those Runes is now a lot harder than I thought."

"Perhaps I should go down and pick up some ammo, or else I wouldn't be able to fight reliably. You can stay here and keep an eye on them, just in case."

"Sure."

Lucian was left standing alone, facing the statues, as he tried to construct a plausible plan that would allow them to remove the Runes from the prying eyes of the lizards. Without being disintegrated, of course.

 _What's the plan?_

* * *

A few minutes later.

"What's that noise, Lucian? I heard your gunfire downstairs. And why are you here on the second floor?"

Vayne had just climbed up to the second floor when she spotted Lucian.

"Er, I just blasted the chamber wall over there and look what I found."

There was a man-sized hole in the chamber wall not far away. Vayne walked towards the hole and instantly noticed the change in temperature—very, very cold. It turned out that outside the hole was the outdoors—the snowy countryside. They were standing in a stone tower, and she was looking from one of the levels. The sky was dark, which was puzzling since it was just noon when they teleported to the place. Why was it dark now?

The position she was standing at was substantially above ground, roughly 40 feet above the snowy floor. Hundreds of tall, leafless birch trees with snow on their branches obstructed her view, but what she took notice of instead was a purple aura. It enclosed the entire stone tower (at least from her viewpoint) and it didn't fade away.

"A thunderstorm is coming. We'd better retrieve the Runes as soon as possible."

"I got that covered. Listen, here's my plan: Right now I'm standing right beneath the rock bowl. If I point my guns at the ceiling and fire, I will blast a hole from here to the third floor, and then the whole rock bowl will fall right in front of me."

"Wait. You're telling me that you are going to blast a hole so that the Runes can fall from the hole, we take it and then we leave?"

"Yeah. Sort of."

"We might not have time to grab all of them. The lizards might be stationary, but I doubt they would choose to ignore us when the Runes they are guarding are stolen."

"We'll take as much as we can. Trust me, even one of those can boost our abilities to match those of a god's. We'll be unstoppable."

Vayne nodded.

"But can you blast through the wall that easily? It's a lot tougher than you think."

"Nah, it's an easy job. If I can blast open the stone wall, why can this be a problem?"

Vayne placed her backpack on the spot, opened to receive anything that fell from above. She then headed towards the man-sized hole.

"Get ready to glide the both of us out of this place, so that your boyfriend can escape from being disintegrated by the ruthless beams. You won't allow me to die yet, right?"

"Wouldn't dream of it."

Vayne fired her grappling gun at the nearest tree, which was still 30 something feet away. But her aim was accurate, and the hook successfully attached itself to the thick branch of the tree.

"That should do, Lucian."

"Nice. Now get ready, because I'll begin shooting now."

The Purifier pressed the triggers and fired rapidly at the ceiling. The light missiles acted like small explosives and detonated on impact, and true to his word a dent gradually formed. The small dent developed into a larger one, then became a hole, then became a larger hole…after 10 seconds the large hole developed into a crater on the ceiling.

"Brace yourself, Vayne. The bowl's about to crash down!"

And it did. After a few more seconds Lucian's missiles broke through the surface of the ground on the third floor, right beneath the stone bowl. The golden artifacts came crashing down as the bowl was destroyed by the missiles, landing on the spot where Lucian had marked. Some of them dropped into the backpack.

Lucian stopped firing when he saw the colour of gold from above. When he saw that more than enough Runes fell into the backpack, he reclaimed the bag swiftly, zipped it, and dashed towards Vayne with the bag on his back.

"I'm coming—yikes!"

"The laser's right behind you. Run—just run!"

Lucian could already feel the intense heat behind his legs without looking back. Any delay would prove fatal.

Meanwhile, Vayne leapt off into the air and held the grappling gun tightly as she began her descent, just before Lucian made his jump as well.

"I'm coming!"

Lucian leapt off the chamber as well, barely escaping the lizards' lasers which were mere inches away from his feet. He managed to grab Vayne by the shoulders with his jump.

His heart missed a beat when he saw the distance he was from the ground.

"Hold my back tight!" shouted Vayne. They descended quickly, but the hook slowed them down and their legs barely made it to the snow floor as they hovered right on top of it. Eventually, they landed on the ground safely and steadily.

"Whew. That was exciting," exclaimed Lucian. "Gliding through air—certainly thrilling."

"We'd better run now. The soldiers might be after us."

"We'll run as far away as possible—"

He was interrupted by a bolt of lightning in the distance that temporarily brightened the dark sky. Seconds later thunder ensued, bombarding the sky with noise.

"The storm's at large. We have to find shelter as soon as possible."

"Let's just move forward."

They wandered through the forest in search for a shelter.

"It's freezing here." Lucian began chattering his teeth. "Let…me…just…get...the…lantern."

With the help of his gloves (which prevented his hands from frostbite), he managed to retrieve the lantern from his backpack and lit it—the lantern provided precious warmth to themselves.

"My bag's kinda heavy. We certainly brought back tons of loot that can be unwrapped later. By the way, do you know exactly how Runes work?"

"I might need some time to study them. But I remember most of the procedures to absorb the power."

"Great. I wonder what strengths the Runes will provide. Is that a cave, by the way?"

A small snow hill stood in front of them, with a cave entrance at the bottom of the small hill. Vayne noticed the cave was deeper than it looked.

She pointed at the cave and glanced at Lucian. Lucian nodded, so they crouched and entered the hole into a dark cavern.

"Well, what a miracle we encountered. A cave out of nowhere. The best place for shelter in a thunderstorm."

His words echoed over the whole cave.

"Let's just sit here, shall we?"

The duo settled inside the cave, sat down and unpacked their bags. They had ventured deep enough that they couldn't see what was outside the cave. Lucian placed the lantern between them for warmth, while Vayne placed the Detector between them as well.

"This will alert us of anyone that passes by."

"Nice. I'll unpack the Runes."

Lucian opened the backpack and handed it over to Vayne for her inspection.

"We got eight Runes. That's far more than I expected."

"See, my plan's brilliant. No need to thank me."

"But what are we going to do with them?"

* * *

The storm only further worsened as time passed.

The sun was bolted by black clouds that sprawled across the sky, plunging the land into night-time. Due to the climate, the rain froze into snow and unleashed a harsh blizzard on land. The winds howled ferociously like wolves and thousands of pieces of snow danced in the air. The temperature dropped way below freezing and should any person stay under these conditions, they would get frostbite and hypothermia in less than 30 minutes and die of extreme coldness in less than an hour.

The land became desolate and lifeless, not only because of the meters of snow brought by the violent snowstorm to the land, but hailstones the size of small rocks rained from the sky, crashing onto the snowy surface like falling debris. Visibility had dropped close to zero as the only possible thing one could see were countless snowflakes and snow. One would not imagine any sane person to wander in such unfavorable circumstances.

A figure sauntered through the dense birch forest. He was a bald man with a long beard and blue skin, shirtless while wearing jeans. There were a number of white scrolls at his back, attached by strings, which contained centuries-old content which no one could possibly decipher. His body emitted a blue glow like a living lantern, and nearby white snow turned blue as well when the man passed by.

A blue shield surrounded him like a bubble, protecting him from the cold. It was room temperature inside the bubble in contrast to the external freezing temperature, and nothing could penetrate the shield, keeping the man out of harm's way. The bubble allowed him to ignore the harsh conditions nature had to offer and walk freely without restraint.

His eyes were closed for some reason so he couldn't see the path he was walking. However, he wouldn't be able to see anything even with his eyes open, for the snow had piled up on the bubble and obstructed the view. Strangely, he knew which direction he should be heading towards—without the help of his eyes. The man wasn't purely wandering around—he had a destination.

The jolting sound of thunder could be heard, but the man remained calm, unaffected by the noise. His face was unmoved like a statue, clearly lacking in emotion.

Suddenly he stopped. His eyes shot open as if something extraordinary had just happened. He glanced around, wondering what was around him. As expected, nothing but falling snow and hail could be seen.

The man raised one of his hands, the palm facing frontwards. Blue energy is channeled towards his hand while he spoke an ancient language, one that the modern age had long forgotten. Seconds later something extraordinary happened—blue, transparent stairs started to construct in front of him. As it extended upwards, the man set his foot on the stairs and began his ascent.

The stairs came to an end at the face of a stone wall. The man was roughly 40 feet above ground, his legs supported by magical stairs. Energy was channeled on his hands once again, and this time a blue energy ball was formed. He tossed the projectile at the wall, which detonated on impact and shattered a portion of the stone wall into pieces.

Behind the stone wall was a chamber. Inside the chamber were pieces of stone laying below a large number of golden artifacts. A group of men dressed in full black armor surrounded the artifacts, and they turned around to see the sudden intruder.

The man looked equally surprised as well.

"I did not expect other humans to be here, other than the Runes."

The soldiers were at once shocked by the unexpected entrance of the man. For a while, they forgot their weapons and were at a loss for words.

"Contact the headquarters now. We've been ambushed," one of them managed to say.

"The radio's not working. The thunderstorm is too strong outside!"

The Noxian soldiers raised their swords and bows, aimed at the blue-skinned intruder. Some of them were still shivering, however.

"For centuries I have located, obtained and destroyed many World Runes. But I never knew that there is such a huge stockpile in the Ironspike Mountains. Such a massive number of Runes, all at the same place, should have emitted too much magical energy that I should be able to detect them thousands of miles away. But for some reason, I can't. I never felt this amount of energy during my search in Runeterra. Yet a few hours ago, I suddenly could. Just this—unexpected flow of energy went into my body, informing me that the Runes are right here. My question is, what have you done to conceal these Runes for so many years from me?"

"How'd…how'd you get in here? Look at the storm outside. Were you here the entire time or—"

"No, I came from the outside. I'm a capable sorcerer, and simple walls cannot obstruct me from my targets. The World Runes right here, they are my targets."

"Who…who are you?"

"My identity does not concern you. I'm here to stop another Rune War. My mission is simple—to eliminate every Rune in Runeterra. And to eliminate those who stand in my way."

* * *

 **Author's note:**

 **A display of power of the dynamic duo in fighting baddies in order to reach the Runes. Though they did leave quite the number of bodies behind. (Batman would have gravely opposed that.) And yes, I altered the actual lore slightly so that it fits my vision, like the Senna part when she was supposed to be wife instead of sibling.**

 **Anyway, it's kinda obvious who the blue-guy is at the end. (I mean, there aren't that many sorcerers in the game.) As you might imagine, the baddie must be very, very strong to be capable of taking on such a powerful battlemage.**


	28. Chapter 27

It was a blur outside the window. Everything was white with drifting snow and hailstones.

Swain stood behind a window, this time facing the outside world. The freezing winds were only a piece of glass away from his warm, cozy room, with a fireplace and a Hextech heater.

Beatrice, the giant pet raven, settled on his shoulder and stared at the same direction.

Swain wasn't just simply staring, though. His mind was concealed from the outside world, in his own dimension where his thoughts lingered.

The blizzard had severely disrupted his plans. The Demon's portal was near completion, but a stockpile of supplies was on their way from the portal via the College of Techmaturgy, and the supplies contained components necessary for the portal's completion. The blizzard would without a doubt prevent the supplies from being transported to the Noxian base. The construction would be further delayed.

And with the capture of Twisted fate and Jarvan, Swain wasn't sure if they came alone—or had armies at their disposal. Sure, they had enough firepower and strength to defeat an army, but if their grand scheme was disclosed to the world they would certainly be attacked by many different nations—nations that did not want to rule with Noxus or become conquered. Together they could easily vanquish their base—and their scheme. Swain had no intention to jeopardize a plan that took years and resources to formulate. With that in mind, he was keen to finish the portal as soon as possible so that no one could stop him in the future.

Apparently, Swain grew tired of standing for too long, so he returned to his throne, sat down, picked up a glass of beer, and poured the liquid into his mouth, all while still staring at the snowy view outside the glass. His eyes never left the glass.

"General Swain."

There was no one else in the room—the question came from a blue crystal ball on the arm of Swain's throne. The crystal ball was at first transparent, but now it had become densely blue-coloured.

Swain enlarged his eyes upon hearing the sound. He placed his glass of beer on the table beside the throne, held up the crystal ball with his talons (nails, in fact, but it was so oversized that it rivalled those of birds), and looked into the ball.

"Have you finished collecting the last Rune?"

"I have, General. It's right here."

Swain's face was at first motionless, but his delight couldn't be masked even by the garment on his mouth when he saw the image on the crystal ball.

"Very good. Bring it back to me. The portal is soon to be finalized and I need your help in activating the portal."

"That is excellent progress, General."

"Indeed it is. Soon we will settle our deal—you will be given sufficient territory to govern over once I conquered Runeterra. How long will it take you to reach here?"

"Before night collapses in the Ironspike Mountains."

"Good. And speaking of which, have you told me that you are particularly interested in the guy called Twisted fate?"

"Yes, I have."

"He is here in the base. Captured. You can see him for yourself when you return."

"Oh. I will."

* * *

"Aaarrgh!"

The Noxian soldier was still shouting, despite knowing full well that he stood no chance against the Runic prison he was enclosed in.

In fact, his fellow companions were locked in a Runic prison as well. It functioned like a jail room—it had tightly-packed magical bars that mirrored those in jails. There was no sufficiently large gap for the men to escape.

They stood in their cells, watching the mage destroy the Runes one by one. He placed the scroll beneath the Runes, said something in an ancient language, and channeled magical energy into the Runes. Behind him were pieces of broken crystals and several stone heads, representing lizards. The Rune guardians had tried to defend the Runes, but did not expect themselves to be blasted apart by a simple Runic projectile from the mage.

"What is this magic that you are performing?"

"I'm channeling magical energy into the Runes to destroy them."

"How is that supposed to destroy them? I heard it's indestructible!"

"Generations of human beings have long believed that it is indestructible. And I wouldn't blame them, because no one had found a way to disintegrate it, myself included. Until years ago."

"I have found artifacts left behind by the Creator of the Runes years ago, in Shurima. Yes, I strongly believe the Runes are created by someone, but whose identity I still struggle to find out. Anyway, a scroll was left behind by the Creator as well, and it took me a week to decrypt it. Its contents, however, is something I have longed to discover."

"The scroll unveiled to me the one and only technique to exterminate the Runes. Runes are considered indestructible because they consisted of materials unfamiliar to history. No one knew where the Runes came from, their usage or their purpose. We only knew that they contained immense power, but they could not be broken apart by any means."

"The scroll stated too that Runes cannot be broken externally. But here lies the key—Runes cannot be destroyed on the outside, but on the inside? Possible. Runes hold immense power, and its power is so overwhelming that the material can barely, barely contain it. But when power is provided to the Rune, it will have so much energy that its power would overcome the material and tear it apart from the inside. The magic it contains will then leave the Rune itself and dissipate into the air."

"Before I can only lock the Runes away in unreachable locations. But with the discovery of this method, not only did I exterminate hundreds and thousands of Runes in several years, but it realizes my lifelong dream to remove the existence of Runes from this very world, not just to lock it away."

"What do you think you have done, Ryze? You're destroying the Runes, sources of immense power! What an idiotic choice!"

"You are wrong, Noxian. It is these Runes that corrupt us to the very core and lead to the destruction of this world. Power always leads to corruption. It has stayed this way for centuries."

"Strength is something our nation values above all. Only the strong survive, not the weak. And to become strong, we must acquire power through any means necessary. The Runes give us the means to do so."

"See? You're still blinded by power. This is what leads to your downfall."

"You use magic as well, Ryze. You keep talking about 'centuries'. You lived a long time, didn't you? What kind of magic are you practicing? It can't be ordinary magic—even the best mages can't live for an entire century and emit light from their physical bodies. Don't tell me that you...utilized the Rune's power."

Ryze turned to glare at the soldier. The soldier knew instantly that he had hit the right note.

"So you did use the power of the Runes."

Ryze sighed.

"Power comes at a cost. That was a lesson I had learnt early in my life. Trust me, merging with the Runes results in no good. You get the power, but you lose your humanity. You become a slave to its power. Just like me."

"I was fused with Runes at a young age. I barely managed to control the power I had, without losing my conscience. But by doing so, I was driven out of my tribe, treated like an outcast. My people thought I turned into a monster. They spread news of me and warned other tribes to drive me away from their lands. Every single person in Runeterra would recognize me and…tried to kill me. I thought my life was ruined by magic—I couldn't see or meet anyone, even my loved ones. I was literally alone."

"But then the Rune War occurred a few years later. I witnessed the devastation it caused—giant craters, magma bursting out of the surface, entire armies evaporated in a blink of an eye—no one could imagine on that day just how much destruction the Runes can cause. It was then that I realized my mission—to eliminate these Runes from our world permanently so it wouldn't fall into the wrong hands, or fall into hands who do not acknowledge the dangerous power of the Runes."

"I wonder how idiots like you would choose to pursue these Runes. They are certainly out of your league. But tell me, who set up the magical shield surrounding this building?"

"The…the purple shield? That's the work of…General Swain. Leader of Noxus, the soon-to-be ruler of Runeterra, greatest mage of all time!"

"Swain. Hmph. Never heard of this person."

"You haven't heard of him? Impossible! His name spreads through the lands, strikes fear into the hearts of men."

"For one thing I know, he doesn't pose a threat to me. Him? Being the greatest mage of all time? Laughable."

"So what do you think you are, huh? You can only imprison me with stupid, imaginary jail cells. Swain will tear you apart like paper with his ravens."

"We'll see about that, human. The purple shield requires a certain level of mastery of magic, after all. Actually, I wonder who broke the shield, because until a few hours ago I did not know the existence of this place. If it wasn't for the destruction of the shield, I wouldn't be here at all. Anyway, I shall concentrate on these Runes. You will keep quiet."

It wasn't that the soldiers had a choice either, for their lips were stuck together by an unknown source of power, denying their ability to speak. They could only watch as Ryze continued his procedures.

* * *

"High General Swain."

The King of Noxus walked into the corridor as someone shouted his name. He had just received a notice from his men and had to leave his luxury room. All the soldiers nearby bowed to Swain upon sight.

"What is it, soldier?"

"General Darius wants to see you. He says it's urgent."

"Where is he?"

"He will soon be here. He had just returned from the portal."

No sooner did the soldier finish his sentence than Darius enter the long corridor, dressed in his classic heavy, steel armor with the red cape. He looked bruised and had blood stained on his armor.

"Jericho. Have you been notified that four Demacians had entered our territory?" asked the stone-faced Noxian.

"Four? We have two in our prison."

"That means two are missing. I am absolutely sure there are four, because they stormed into the College and tried to reach here. I fought them, but I couldn't outduel all of them at once. I tried to contact you, but there was this unexpected blizzard which delayed my trip here. I came when the storm started to fade"

Swain would surely be surprised, but his face displayed no clue of his thoughts. His eyes narrowed, however.

"Which four are they?"

"Prince Jarvan, the Night Hunter, a black man I've never seen before, and Twisted fate, the outlaw."

"The Night Hunter is here? I'm not surprised. When the weather is clear, send troops to search for them, and activate the radar. Try to keep them alive…but do what you must against them. I will not allow them to escape again."

"Yes, Jericho."

Swain then took the stairs back to his room.

* * *

"You've slept for some time, sweetheart."

"Ugh…"

Vayne awoke to see herself lying on Lucian's lap, while he sat against the ice walls. The last thing she remembered was Lucian telling her to "take sufficient rest" for the potential battles ahead, when they would be able to leave the cave. She refused, so Lucian dozed off instead. But it was Lucian sleeping, not her. How was she the one lying down right now—

"When I woke up I saw you leaning there, not moving at all, so I guessed that you slept. I thought that you sleeping on my lap would be the more comfortable option."

"Well, I had no intention of sleeping. Anything could happen to us any second if no one is on guard. How could I—"

"Relax, relax. Nothing happened, right? No need to be anxious. I suppose you were just tired."

"That's weird. I usually am not tired even when sitting alone for long hours. And I'm not even comfortable with sleeping in an unfamiliar environment."

"That's because you have me. You're comfortable in my presence. That explains a lot," said Lucian in a soft voice. Unconsciously his head moved closer to Vayne's.

"Maybe it is. I haven't actually slept with you before." She gave a suggestive wink, having realized her glasses were gone for some reason.

"Perhaps we can try that some time. After all of this," answered Lucian, who bent down and locked lips with Vayne's. Both of them were reluctant to part lips, but it was the Night Hunter who eventually broke the kiss.

"Why is it always you? We've could have kept on doing that for ages."

"Time is running short. We have important matters to deal with," she replied, returning to her business-like self.

"Now that you've said that, perhaps we should figure out how to use the Runes."

"Sure."

Vayne got up from Lucian's lap and opened her backpack, revealing the glimmering, golden Runes in it.

"How are we supposed to use it, Lucian?"

"I have no idea. There aren't many books explaining the usage of these ancient artifacts."

Vayne nodded. The Runes were something even she couldn't understand.

"Then I'd better figure it out myself."

She cast her eyes on the Runes. They were golden, glimmering like pure gold. The symbol on it represented a lion's head, though she had no idea what its meaning was.

How would she use it? She had no idea, since the Runes couldn't be touched by hand. How could she absorb the power when she couldn't touch it?

 _I shall teach you how to use it, human._

 _Huh? What is this?_

 _I am your guidance in unlocking the full power of the Runes._

 _What? No—_

"Vayne! What's up? Why are you staring at the Runes and doing nothing?"

 _The Runes are something you cannot control alone. But don't worry, I will help you achieve your goals. Just follow my instructions and soon all the power will be yours._

 _You're a delusion. I will ignore you and you will disappear from my head._

 _That is impossible, unfortunately. You and I are one from now on._

 _How is that possible? I did not even touch you!_

"Vayne! You're drooling saliva like a baby! You're contaminating the Runes!"

 _The ancient power of Runes is not to be underestimated, human._

 _I will become conscious again, stranger. You wouldn't be able to invade my mind._

There was a voice, the sound of a gun loading. Vayne turned away from the Runes to see Lucian pointing his gun at her. His face was one of disgust and rage, something she had never seen before.

"You failed the world. You choose to abandon the Runes's power. The world is in destruction all because of you. You refused to absorb the power to save the world!"

Vayne was dumbfounded, but her senses kicked in and she realized this might all be just an illusion.

"You're lying. You're just another illusion created by the Runes."

"You think I'm fooling around with you. Ok. I will show you that I mean business."

With a stone-cold face, Lucian pressed the trigger. Vayne felt something hot on her stomach, an impact, and she looked down to see a burning wound which tore some of her skin. To her surprise, the pain was real—so was the heat.

But she knew how virtual reality worked. Even if there was genuine pain, it did not imply what happened was true. After all, she knew well Lucian would not act like this under any circumstances.

"Nice try, Runes. But it takes a lot more than pain for me to surrender."

"Your subconscious mind might say so. But not your physical self."

Vayne was shocked. She thought she was in control, yet she couldn't even differentiate reality and illusions. She wasn't even sure what happened to her "physical self".

Lucian smirked.

"Now I will deal with him."

* * *

"Vayne! You're drooling saliva like a baby! You're contaminating the Runes!"

Lucian found it amusing to see Vayne staring at the Runes like a statue, even dropping saliva. However, soon he felt something wasn't right.

 _How could she be staring at it for so long? What is she doing?_

Carefully he patted her shoulder and asked, "Are you fine?"

Vayne didn't respond. Lucian thought he was really talking to a statue.

"Talk, Vayne. Don't play games. You're worrying me."

Then he saw Vayne turn her head to face him, slowly like a robot, and uttered some words,

"You're lying. You're just another illusion created by the Runes."

Her voice was unusually low and soft, but Lucian could hear the words clearly. However, she was still staring at the Runes.

"Lying? What…what illusion—Runes? I just said you're drooling! What's going on with you?"

Lucian confirmed that something was indeed very wrong. Vayne was acting very weird.

He saw the piles the Runes nearby her and instantly concluded that the Runes were affecting her in some way since there wasn't anything else in the cave. Quickly he kicked the bag away from her, and it rolled deeper into the cave.

"Are the Runes affecting you? Tell me something, don't be dumb—"

He felt something tightening his throat. It was Vayne's grip, and her black eyeballs glaring at him. Her teeth were clenched as well.

"How dare you kick the Runes away! That's disrespectful! You will learn to embrace the Runes, or you die."

It didn't take an idiot to realize she was out of her mind.

"You've gone nuts, Vayne. The Runes made you a puppet. I'd better save you before you do something stupid."

"Then you face the wrath of the Runes."

Vayne proceeded to enter the cave in search of the bag.

"No Vayne, stop! Break control from the Runes' influence!"

Lucian scrambled towards Vayne in hasty steps in an attempt to stop her, but before he could close even half the distance she had reached the bag, grabbed it, picked a Rune and held it in her palm, before turning to face Lucian.

She held the Rune in front of her, and said in a threatening voice,

"You better stop moving now, or you risk a painful death."

No doubt she wasn't bluffing. The Purifier had previously witnessed the destructive power of the lizards' beams, and if its guardians could perform such an act, surely the Runes could disintegrate him easily as well.

And for some reason, Vayne was able to physically hold the Runes.

Lucian had to think quickly. He certainly couldn't attack Vayne at this point nor walk away, and that meant he was forced to remain frozen in place. Which wasn't necessarily safer for him, however, considering how unstable Vayne was.

 _Brainstorm, Lucian, think as fast as you can! What can you do now against a madwoman?_

He clenched his teeth and tightened his grip, unable to come to a conclusion.

"Who are you?"

"I am the living incarnation of the Runes of knowledge. I have made her realize her true strength and capabilities—now it's your turn. Answer me once again—do you embrace the power of the Runes?"

 _This will do. Though I may not enjoy this._

"Yes, yes, of course I will. But how do I absorb its power, if I cannot touch it?"

"Let the Runic energy enter your body. They will purify you and soon you and the Runes will be one. You will feel the immense power of the Runes! Trust me, you will not regret it!"

 _The hell I wouldn't. Look at what you've done to my sweetheart. That's a bull**** statement._

Nonetheless, Lucian couldn't speak verbally of his true thoughts. He had to find a way to somehow satisfy her and yet not fall into the same path.

"But I don't think you can resist anyway. You're just a mortal, powerless and weak. What can you do to stop me?" spoke Vayne, who laughed villainously.

To some extent she was right. But an idea surfaced in Lucian's mind, and though he was reluctant to do so since it was high risk, he was already grasping at straws in this situation and any possible method was necessary.

"Ok. But before I absorb your power, I want to do something."

Vayne raised her eyebrows in confusion. Lucian found it amusing to see her still act like herself even when under external influence.

"Which is?"

"Let me dispose of my guns. If I can acquire your power, I don't need guns anymore."

"Guns? What are guns? Are they a source of magical power?"

This time it was Lucian who was astonished. The Runes didn't know what was a gun! He could use that to his advantage.

"Mind if I show you?"

"Yes, yes. I am very interested in learning more about this thing called 'guns'. As the bringer of knowledge for centuries, it is necessary for me to understand everything in Runeterra."

Lucian tried his best not to smirk. He drew his two guns from his waist, slowly, and pointed the nozzles at Vayne gradually, in the hope of not being recognized.

The most relieving part was that when Lucian went full gun stance and was ready to fire, the Runes still had no idea that he held deadly weapons. He even had time to put on his black glasses and manually adjust the gun so that it would fire the correct projectile, instead of a fatal one.

"This looks interesting. What are these holes?"

"You'll find out soon," grinned Lucian, unable to hide the smile on his face.

Before Vayne managed to further ask any questions she was blinded by a sudden blast of light in front of him. The entire cave was flooded with white light.

"No!" shouted Vayne, just as Lucian swiftly approached in front of her (he wore glasses beforehand), aimed his leg and kicked the Rune off Vayne's hand. She was basically stunned and unable to react.

Lucian then delivered a quick punch to her temple. Instantly she blacked out and proceeded to collapse to the floor., Lucian managed to catch when her head barely met the floor, however.

"Got you, princess."

Lucian gently placed Vayne on the ground.

"Hope that wouldn't hurt. Trust me, I have struggled for long before I made this decision."

He did. Punching his lover certainly wasn't the best thing he could do, but he had no alternative. Still, he was quite pleased to have used the right force—she was still breathing, and he knew what he did was a short-term knockout blow—she would awaken a few minutes later, perhaps.

"Whew. Glad I sorted this out myself."

He cast his eyes on the Runes. The seemingly hopeful artifact of power turned out to be possessive and extremely dangerous. He started to regret stealing them.

 _If only I knew they had such extent of power…_

 _Oh, wait. I'm staring at the Runes._

Upon realizing his foolish mistake he tried to pull away his glance, but there came a voice in his head,

 _Still interested in me, right?_

 _No! No! I am not! I just…accidentally fell into the same pit._

 _You cannot escape the Runes, son. They will take over the world, and you will embrace the new era._

 _Never will I be your slave._

 _Then I will take over your body—_

"Gah!"

Lucian felt a jolt in his head as he saw himself collapsing to the ground as well.

His sight was blur due to him feeling dizzy, but he could work out a blue figure in front of him, the bag with Runes floating in front of him while emitting a blue glow. With a wave of his hand, the bag flew deep into the cave, not to be seen again.

"Did one of you activate the Runes?"

He closed his eyes and tried to focus, his hands on his own head. A while later he felt better and looked the man right in the eye.

"Wow. Who are you?"

"I am Ryze, the Rune Mage. You had just caused the awakening of the Runes, and it tried to possess you. I could feel the Rune's power someone else and thus I teleported here to the two of you, and saved you from your demise."

Lucian was bewildered, though grateful that someone would pop out nowhere to save him.

 _My lucky day today, Twisted fate._

"Why are you two here anyway, in a cave secluded from the outside world, bringing artifacts that you cannot comprehend?"

Lucian wasn't sure whether he should answer a stranger. But he had saved his life after all, and he could probably help them if he was cooperative.

"We stole the Runes from a stone building. After that we tried to find shelter for the blizzard, then we found this cave and we hid here."

"A stone building? You mean—"

"You've been to a stone building before nearby?"

"Yes. There are some black-armored men, and a lot, a lot of Runes—"

"Exactly. That's the building we stole the Runes from."

"When did you steal it?"

"This afternoon."

His answer seemed to strike a note in Ryze.

"Did you notice a purple aura? Surrounding the building?"

"Yes, I did. Why?"

"Did it ever disappear?"

Lucian tried to recall his memory. He had not noticed that at all.

"You see, when we escaped and I looked back at the building, it doesn't have a purple aura. When we first went in, it has the aura."

Ryze looked astonished.

"So you might be the one who broke the shield."

"The shield? You mean…the aura is a shield?"

Ryze tried to explain.

"The purple aura is a magical shield that keeps whatever it surrounds in invisibility, keeping it hidden from magical detectors. Which is why I never noticed the existence of such a huge stockpile of Runes. But with the destruction of the shield, the raw power of the Runes drew me here. You must have accidentally destroyed the shield."

Lucian could put two and two together. They tried to steal the Runes, broke the shield for some reason, drew Ryze here, and allowed him to save them before their souls were consumed by the Runes. Everything was a chain reaction. And their survival was partially due to their robbery of the Runes, something he thought totally went wrong.

"Why are you here then, my friend. No one reaches the Ironspike mountains without cause. Survival conditions are tough here."

"Ironspike?" Lucian was puzzled. For this time, he had hypothesized the place to be nearby the Frejlord. But the Ironspike mountains? Totally out of his imagination.

"You don't even know the name of this place? So how did you get here?"

Lucian told him everything he needed to know, including the portal that led them here and the possible scheme of Noxus.

"The Runes can be powerful, but to warp between dimensions…I never heard that before. But's it is probable—we must stop them!"

Just then, Vayne opened her eyes and awoke from her temporary coma.

"What's happening…here…"

"Oh. I failed to notice a woman here."

"She was possessed by the Runes first. I saved her, but I stared at the Runes for too long and…this happens."

"Stay away from the Runes. The Rune which tried to possess you belongs to a type called the Mind Rune, a Rune that seeks knowledge and has extremely strong mental capabilities. It can easily take over your body if you aren't careful enough."

Ryze eyed the Night Hunter, who was trying to recover from her head injury.

"Who is this woman?"

"My partner."

"Is she as strong as you?"

Lucian glanced at Vayne.

"No less weaker than I am."

"That means you both suck. Weaklings."

Ryze stepped towards the cave entrance nonchalantly as Lucian stared at him wide-eyed as if Ryze had killed someone.

"I respect you, however, for being able to hold your own against the Runes. Not many people can resist their raw power."

"Who is this blue-guy?" asked Vayne, having recovered from dizziness and shock.

"Dunno. Only knew that he saved our lives."

"Is he trustable?"

"Well, I'm not sure, but he apparently has the same interests as we do, that is to put an end to the Demon's portal."

"I just remembered staring at the Runes. Then the Runes tried to take over my mind, and then I couldn't recall anything until now—"

"Relax. You're fine now." Lucian then spotted a red bump on her temple. "Except your head, maybe."

Vayne touched her head and felt the bump as well. "That explains why I am experiencing headaches. What caused that?"

Lucian wasn't keen in telling the truth. But lying to his girlfriend wasn't the best option, not to mention her detective-like brain would figure out what happened in reality soon enough.

"Um…let's say that you were slightly uncontrollable and I had to resort to such means to save the both of us."

"You could have caused me traumatic brain injuries, permanent paralysis or even death, you know."

"Yeah…" Lucian knew those risks all too well. "But you were threatening to kill me as well…and if I don't make a move the both of us will be gone forever."

"Hopefully you have done the right thing…I don't experience any symptoms for now."

"Was pretty lucky just now. Gotta thank the morning encounter with Twisted fate. He ain't bluffing when it comes to luck."

"We need to save them now. Hopefully, they're still in one piece."

"Hopefully."

Vayne observed her surroundings. Other than the lantern there was nothing in the cave.

"Where's the bag?"

"Ryze tossed it into the cave. You need the contents inside?"

Vayne nodded.

"He strongly advised us not to cross paths with the Runes again…I'll call him. He'll deal with the Runes when we extract the necessities."

Lucian was ready to shout when he found his mouth covered by Vayne's hand.

"Hmph!" (What the hell are you doing?)

"Before we go back to business," whispered Vayne, pulling Lucian's face closer to hers, "perhaps we should share a moment, shouldn't we?"

Outside the cave, Ryze wondered why the two of them had yet to exit the cave.

"What is taking these idiots for so long?"

* * *

 **Author's note:**

 **That's a pretty long time for an update, surely. My apologies—things were tough in my life. Anyway, after next week conditions should change and I would be able to end the story swiftly.**

 **Anyway, for the next chapter there will be resistance from the Noxians (they can't just let Ryze and the duo sabotage the building freely) and during this time Fate and Jarvan would plan their escape. Stay tuned.**


	29. Chapter 28

"Grand General Swain!"

Swain emerged from his personal office door, with an exasperated look on his face.

"What is it again? Can't you solve your problems yourself?"

"No, Grand General. The Runes base is under attack. Our forces are unable to fight against them—the men reported that a man whose body is glowing in blue, one guy holding a crossbow and one guy holding two guns that shoot lasers."

Swain cast a dirty look on the men.

"You're telling me that…they lost the territory?"

"Yes…Grand General."

Swain fell silent. His raven croaked—the men began to tremble at the sight of Swain, who seemed more and more like a giant by the second. For some reason, his silence made him the more menacing. Suddenly their eyes laid on Swain's scepter, with his talon-like fingernails grasping it as if his life depended on it.

"How did they allow such things to happen? You all know it is a crucial part of our scheme and it must be guarded at all costs!"

"I understand, Grand General. But the mage is too strong! He obliterates our forces with ease. He can tear pieces of land from the ground and toss it towards us. Assistance is needed."

Swain's face was impassive despite the bad news. Though one could feel the uneasy atmosphere when standing near him. A feeling of dread.

"Send the best men we have," he finally said, unexpectedly calm. "And I will go as well. I will personally reclaim the Rune building. It must not be lost to our enemies."

"Yes, sir."

"And send me the commander who is in charge of the building's safety, after we reclaim the building. I need to speak with him."

"Um…yes sir."

The soldiers knew the commander would be in very deep trouble—judging by Swain's past experiences with men who did not comply well with his orders.

Beneath the leader's mask was gritted, clenched teeth. So far his work was close to completion—yet it was at risk of total jeopardization. He wouldn't allow that to happen.

 _I will ensure filthy Demacians will not interfere with my master plan._

* * *

Twisted fate sat in the cell room.

A few hours ago it was said that a blizzard has struck—he acquired that information from passing guards, who were discussing the matter. At first, he had that slight hope the blizzard would, somehow, cause the building's destruction.

When it didn't, obviously, he sighed. In such a desolated place, who would be there to save him? Even his luck seemed to fade.

 _Why, Lady Luck. Why abandon me in such a place? I deserve better, right?_

 _No, you don't._

 _Huh? Why?_

 _You suck._

 _Damn it. Even my consciousness is playing tricks on me._

"Prisoner!'

Twisted fate almost jumped from his position. A Noxian soldier stood in front of the bars, holding keys with a sword in his scabbard.

"You, move. Get up."

"What's going to happen to me now?"

"Just shut up and move!'

Not wanting to further agitate the soldier, he leapt up and walked out of the cell as the man opened the gates. In the hallway he saw Jarvan as well, dressed in his orange prisoner clothes.

"You're lucky, Demacian. The Noxian playboys want to have fun with your bodies."

"Can't you come up with something more honorable? Beating me up when I'm weak and unarmed! You're bastards!"

The soldier laughed.

"Honor does not exist in our world, Demacian. Your beliefs in Demacia are outdated and impractical. Here, whoever has power—dominates the world. And since now I am the one with power, you will bow before me. I get to do what I want."

Jarvan wasn't pleased, but he got no choice.

Meanwhile, Twisted fate was still pleased that no one had paid any attention to him at all.

A few more soldiers entered the prison hallway.

"Take them to the playroom. The boys are hungry for blood."

The soldiers smirked as they grabbed Twisted fate and Jarvan's shoulders and ushered them away.

 _Where are they taking me to this time?_

Before they left the prison masks were again forced on their faces, so that they could not see anything when they walked. He found it incredibly frustrated that he was given no chance to even recognize the place—if he didn't know what kind of place he was in, how could he even plan an escape? The previous prison facilities had no such tight measures on their prisoners, thus allowing him to escape for numerous times. Not this one, however.

 _Can't you just be a little bit more careless? I can't escape this way!_

It was like the night before, when he was abducted to Shaco's own torture room. He felt vulnerable—anything could happen to him now, without his knowledge. He could be punched in the head, stabbed in the stomach, or kicked in the nuts.

Nonetheless, he was relatively safe until he felt something hard on his back.

 _What was that? A wall again? No, I won't go through that torture with Shaco again._

Then his mask was taken off.

His surroundings weren't much better either. He was in a large, spacious room, with nothing but a few soldiers. Four muscular, bare-chested men were there as well, each with huge grins on their faces. Beside them was a wooden table, filled with knives and cleavers of all sorts. Essentially anything that can slice people in half. There was strangely a cardboard box as well.

And of course, there was the iconic bare chested Agent 87, standing in the midst of the brutes. Though the super-soldier stood out in terms of body mass and fearsomeness.

"Tie them there against the wall. They'll soon be yours."

Twisted fate's hands and legs were tied up with ropes, and so were Jarvan's.

"What's your deal, Agent 87? We've been tortured last night, and now you want to do it again?"

"On the contrary, prince. You'll definitely enjoy whatever's going to happen later." The brutes beside Agent 87 laughed.

"Definitely, Jarvan. You have no idea how long we have been waiting for this moment. To taste the flesh of a Demacian of royal blood."

"You're dogs. All of you."

Indeed, Jarvan's statement was quite correct—the men laughed—or barked— like real dogs.

Twisted fate knew something was up. He remembered very well what happened the night before. How could he attempt to kill him at this moment?

"Close the doors, by the way. We must not be interrupted."

The soldiers standing nearby the doors proceeded to shut the door, as Agent 87 turned back to face Twisted Fate and Jarvan.

"I should probably do a bit of an introduction first. These men here are Draven's very own henchmen—those who work in the executioner's arena. They know a lot about execution, and asking them to do the torture stuff will be suitable not only for them, but for you as well," explained Agent 87.

"He's right. We're like brothers to Draven. We slice people like crazy!" They laughed again.

"The tools for this activity are all there on the table, gentlemen," continued Agent 87. "Feel free to get what you want—it's all yours."

"Yes, sure, 87. I'll get what I need. This cleaver looks good!"

The men smirked as they got hold of their weapons. Twisted fate counted—there were six of them, three wielding giant cleavers the size of their heads, two wielding sharp daggers, and one wielding a hammer so heavy he himself struggled to lift.

"Do whatever you want to them, but just one thing: do not take their poor lives."

"That's a must, 87. We can't let them die just for them to escape from us. No, no, we will let them live, but they will endure so much pain that they would wish they weren't born in this world, right brothers?"

They laughed again.

They had no idea that Twisted fate had enough mana to easily slaughter them all—provided that he had cards. Which he didn't at the moment.

 _If I had cards…they wouldn't even be here to threaten me._

What did Agent 87 have in mind?

He noticed the super soldier glancing around the other Noxians, occasionally staring at him and Jarvan. In his eyes, he could see signs of doubt and uncertainty.

Why? Why doubt? Why uncertainty?

"Let me draw the first blood," said Agent 87, who got hold of his own cleaver as well.

"Sure, bro. But don't hold back. I'd like to see him suffer."

The others cracked up again. Twisted fate was sure these "executioners" were psychopathic as well.

Agent 87 stepped forward from the brutes and stood in front of Twisted fate. He had a nasty smirk on his face, just like the executioners. Twisted fate did not like the face of his.

"This young boy here…hmph…should I start with him of the Demacian prince?"

"Ignore the gypsy! Killing him does not please us in any way. Jarvan, Agent 87. Slice Jarvan first!"

"You bastards!" shouted Jarvan, though powerless to resist.

"Very well. I shall follow the advice of my men, shall we?"

Twisted fate could briefly see Agent 87's hands fumbling in his pocket. Barely—very barely—could he see what he was holding in his hand.

A deck of cards.

Cards?

Twisted fate tried to hide his inner happiness and joy. Finally, there was hope! His one and only weapon was right in front of him, hidden from the other Noxians in the super-soldier's pocket. Turned out that he was an ally of his after all—but it remained to be seen if he had other tricks up his sleeve.

Agent 87 gave a swift wink to the gypsy, unbeknownst to the others. He drew his hand from his pocket and turned to face Jarvan. The prince also had no idea what happened between the two of them.

"You see, Jarvan, you have been the most hated Demacian in Noxus since Jarvan the 1st. Your great-grandfather had once united with the other nations to attack us. Yes, we killed the King, and it was a great blow to Demacia, but Noxus did not suffer less. Our armies were in defeat, "crippled" as General Darius had always said, our city walls toppled, our nation in ruins. We had to rebuild, and for many, many decades did we suffer. Millions of Noxians died because of hunger. Our policy had always been to neglect the weak, to support the strong, but at that time there would be no more Noxians if we neglect the weak. To compound the problem, some kind of disease struck that we had no idea how to cure. Have you heard of the 'Black Death', Jarvan? Yes, that is the name of the disease."

"You're lying, Agent 87," said Jarvan angrily. "You Noxians were never in such bad condition! My father and the history books never mentioned anything called 'the Black Death'. And what's our concern of your nation's survival? Your death will be someone worth to celebrate."

"Ruthless, Jarvan. Yet unknowledgeable. You've been fed lies of the past. You see, Demacia is not always the 'City of Justice' as people often say. Anyway, since you're here…why don't we take some revenge for what happened in the past? After all…"

Agent 87 gave Twisted fate a thumbs-up gesture. The gypsy knew what would happen next.

"—it would be a shame if you got away from our very eyes, right?"

"What are you hinting at, Agent 87?" asked Jarvan, beginning to notice that something was indeed up.

Agent 87 smiled reassuringly.

"Sorry to disappoint my brothers today, unfortunately."

Before the brutes could react Agent 87 tossed his cleaver at the three of them. Twisted fate watched as the muscular, strong men were sliced literally into half horizontally on the chest. The blood and gore were indescribable—the gypsy turned away just to prevent himself from seeing it.

"Now, Twisted fate!"

The gypsy then remembered that he had a part to play in this escape plan.

 _Better not get distracted by the blood bath._

As Agent 87 defended himself from the other surviving brutes and soldiers with a blade out of nowhere, Twisted fate concentrated and channeled his mana. He could feel the cards in Agent 87's pocket from a distance and was confident that he could easily control them remotely.

The poker cards magically flew out of Agent 87's pocket and returned to Twisted fate, slicing the ropes tied around him and Jarvan.

"I'll get my weapons," said Jarvan as his feet landed on solid ground. "You deal with the men."

"No problem."

The cards in his hand changed into different colours. Twisted fate threw all of them at once at the brutes. The cards, despite seemingly weaker than an actual cleaver, worked just as well. They pierced through the men's necks with ease, cutting their heads off. The cards did not stop there, however, as they swirled around the whole place and basically cold-bloodedly murdered anyone standing in its path.

No Noxian was left standing. Excluding Agent 87, that was.

"Didn't know you actually meant it yesterday. You gave us no warning beforehand," said Twisted fate.

"What is this? Is this a trick?" Jarvan was absolutely confused and skeptical since he did not know Agent 87 was a spy. "And Twisted fate, do you know this Noxian or something?"

"No time to explain," said Agent 87, who sheathed his sword. "We'd better escape now, or else there will be no chance. As I told you yesterday night, Twisted fate, we need to remove the anti-teleport Rune at the top of this building. I have brought the necessary tools for you."

Agent 87 pointed at the cardboard box at the very table where the cleavers were placed.

"Inside the box is everything you need."

Out of curiosity the gypsy went over and opened the box. Inside were two potions, Jarvan's lance, a set of Noxian armor, and a sword which glowed in purple. Of course, there was Twisted fate's clothing which was forcibly taken off by the Noxians beforehand, including his very own hat.

"That's nice! Didn't expect to see my hat again." Without delay, the gypsy placed his hat onto his head like a king does with his crown. Meanwhile, Jarvan wore the Noxian armor himself and reclaimed his lance. Despite not being in the most optimistic situation he smiled upon grasping his lance.

"I feel refreshed. Empowered. I shall fight again. Oh by the way, what will happen if we leave this place? Some guard might step onto this and raise the alarm."

"I've passed strict orders for soldiers not to enter this room," replied Agent 87. "I am sure they wouldn't interfere with our affairs."

"I see."

"Here's what you need to do: this is a map of the entire facility that I have designed myself, over the years being a spy in the headquarters." As he spoke the super-soldier handed a folded piece of paper to Jarvan, who began reading.

"I have marked the room where the Rune is placed. You will get there, with the help of the map," he continued.

Twisted fate wasn't exactly sure about how to get there.

"Wait…how do we get there? Outside this room, there will be guards! We can't just walk past them unless we overpower them one by one…"

"I'm afraid not. The guards outside are way stronger than those in here. Swain has heightened security because the Demon's portal is near completion. But I do know the way to counteract. The potions here are advanced invisibility potions that will assist you on your way to the Rune. These are advanced in a way such that not only are you invisible, you can walk through any physical object without consequences. In other words, you can walk through walls and doors while keeping yourselves and them at original state."

"Sounds cool to me," said the gypsy. "What about that sword glowing in purple?"

"When you get to the Rune, you need a way to disable it such that it does not emit teleport-disrupting waves over the entire vicinity of the headquarters. Runes itself do not emit magical waves, but the Master of Death was able to magically modify the Rune into its upgraded state. We have to reverse the modification so that it does not obstruct teleportations. When you see the Rune, insert the tip of the sword into it and channel mana-I suppose you are capable of manipulating mana magically?"

"Yes, I can."

"This sword uses mana as a resource for its power. The more mana you invest, the more powerful it is. The sword will gradually reverse the magical modification."

"How do I know the process is complete?" asked the gypsy.

"When it's complete the Rune will glow very brightly. Anyway, it will be obvious when the process is complete. You'll see."

"Good. I have enough mana, right?"

"You do. The mana potion yesterday is modified to be 10 times stronger than ordinary doses."

"You got to be kidding me. Where'd you get all these potions from?"

"Brewed by myself with the help of some expert Noxian brewers."

As Twisted fate claimed the potion and stared at it with interest, Agent 87 noticed Jarvan constantly glaring at him, and not in a friendly way.

"You're still holding a grudge against me, aren't you, Prince?"

"Do you actually mean the words you said just now?"

"Yes. Indeed, I mean every word I say."

Jarvan did not expect such an answer. Clearly, he wasn't satisfied with it, either.

"You seem to think you understand the history between Demacia and Noxus. But let me tell you, most people simply do not know what truly happened between Demacia and Noxus centuries ago, in the times of Jarvan the 1st. Either those who had memories of it had long died, or it has been passed down to generations in an entirely different version. The Black Death truly exists and it's from your father."

"You said history itself might be altered such that it's no longer the truth. So how can you be sure, when you're living in the same century as ours?" Jarvan shot back.

Agent 87 glared at Jarvan but failed to give a reply. Twisted fate wondered what happened between the two as suddenly the whole room fell dead silent.

"What happened just now? I wasn't concentrating."

"Good luck to you two," spoke Agent 87. "And remember to bring me the Rune when it is stabilized. It is crucial that I must have my hands on the Rune."

"Why do you need it?" said Jarvan in an accusing tone.

"I have heard of Twisted Fate's powers," said Agent 87, "but I doubt he can teleport five individuals at once."

"You know how to teleport?" Twisted Fate has yet to know anyone who could teleport like him.

"With the help of the Rune, I can."

"Why is it five individuals?" asked Jarvan. "Wait..."

"Do you know why I picked this very moment for you to escape?"

Both Twisted Fate and Jarvan were clueless. Indeed, why this very moment?

"The Noxians reported that your two friends are making trouble, and another person who I have not met. The new guy seems troublesome-he wiped out a large group of Noxian soldiers with ease. We're sending additional troops to assist, and I'm going with them. Not to kill your friends, of course, and I'll try my best to keep them safe. In the meantime, there will be considerably fewer men here in the headquarters, so it will be easier for you to operate."

"That's convenient," commented the gypsy. "Now I see why you're not following us."

"I'd better leave now to avoid suspicion," said Agent 87. "Good luck to you both. Get yourself ready and begin as soon as possible. Twisted fate, you should teleport to me as soon as possible. I wouldn't be too far away."

With that he headed for the doors and left, leaving the two of them alone.

Twisted fate looked at Jarvan, who was in full Noxian armor and battle-ready.

"Let's get started, shall we?"

* * *

"Can you tell me what exactly happened back in the cave?"

Vayne managed to ask Lucian the question the second they were away from Ryze. They had returned to the Rune building and were ambushed by Noxian troops, but the Rune mage easily fended them off. While Ryze was busy dealing with the Runes, Vayne towed Lucian along by the hand into a corner.

"In a nutshell: you stared too long at the Runes, you got possessed somehow, you tried to attack me but failed, you fainted, I became possessed as well, got saved by Ryze."

"Tell me more about why exactly did you choose to...punch me in the temple."

"Um...can we not talk about that?"

Vayne narrowed her eyes, though Lucian had no idea since she had her glasses on again.

"I don't take no for an answer."

"Well then. Here's what happened."

Vayne did not say anything as Lucian described vividly the situation that happened roughly an hour ago.

"Geez, I have no idea that the Runes could have such possessiveness. My underestimation cost me. And you."

"So do I. Guess we have to be more careful when around unfamiliar objects. Especially ancient ones."

The two of them locked eyes with each other, speechless, for a whole minute.

"We're looking like idiots this way," said Lucian eventually. "But when we get back home we can do this for hours."

"If we get home."

Lucian widened his eyes.

"Wow. You're so pessimistic. Of course we'll get home." Despite that Lucian wasn't exactly sure they would.

"I do hope we'll return to Demacia, but for now there is no obvious way to escape from this place—"

"Ryze told me it's the Ironspikes. We're high up in the mountains."

"…are you serious, Lucian?"

"Why do you ask? It's logical—it's cold up here, a perfectly normal condition on the top of a mountain. And the portal in Zaun should teleport us to somewhere not too far away—the Ironspikes is one of the closest spots from the College of Techmaturgy."

"I know. It's just that…if we knew that it was in the Ironspike mountains instead of the College, it would have taken us half the travel time to get there, instead of taking the sea route. I remember well on the day we were planning the route, I suggested we bypass the mountains…"

"Nah. The Ironspike mountains is notoriously difficult to climb, not to mention reaching the top. There probably isn't a second portal, so I bet the only way we can reach here reliably is by the portal in the College. Plus you wouldn't have any idea the secret headquarters would be in such an unreachable, remote location."

Vayne still didn't look pleased, though she never smiled in public.

"We can't change the past," comforted Lucian, "but we can change the future. Once we saved Twisted fate and Jarvan, we definitely can work out something."

Suddenly they heard a loud voice outside the building.

"WHOEVER IS INSIDE THE BUILDING, GET OUT NOW. YOU ARE TO SURRENDER AT THIS VERY SECOND, OR ELSE NOXIAN TROOPS WILL FINISH YOU."

"Are those Noxians?" asked Lucian as they ran towards the direction of the sound.

"I told Ryze they will send reinforcements. But he's confident he'll beat them all."

They saw Ryze glancing out of one of the openings in a distance.

"The Noxians have surrounded the building completely. There is no escape for you," explained the Rune mage.

"For us? Not even you, I presume," said Vayne.

"Me? I'll enjoy blasting them out of this world. You, a weakling? Stay here and wait for my orders."

Vayne clenched her fists, but Lucian grabbed them before she could do anything.

"We'll see what he can do. He's the Rune Mage, after all, and never in our lifetime can we beat him."

Reluctantly she nodded. They watched as Ryze summoned a Runic missile between his hands and tossed it at the wall, breaking it apart. The stone bricks gave way to reveal the outside world, where hundreds or thousands of Noxian soldiers were in sight. It was night time, but the shiny lights coming from the lamps of the Noxians were bright enough for Vayne and Lucian to see the soldiers.

Amid them stood the infamous figures—Swain, Katarina, Talon, Darius…those who could easily take on dozens of troops and still win.

"Greetings to all of you, Noxians," boomed Ryze, whose voice echoed all over the place. He created a Runic platform and stood on it, which descended itself and took Ryze from the top of the building to ground level. Since Ryze himself was glowing in blue light, combined with the fact that there was no daylight, he easily became the center of attention like a blue star.

The soldiers raised their swords and bows and pointed at Ryze. The mage simply smirked.

"Go on. Shoot me. I'll show you what true strength is."

Swain made the gesture to stand down. The soldiers obeyed, lowering their weapons in unison. The scene was extraordinary, seeing hundreds or thousands of men lowering their weapons at the same time.

"Two cowardly Demacians are hiding behind your back! We can talk through this if you hand them over to me," offered Jericho.

"And if I don't?" challenged Ryze. "What if I refuse?"

"Tell me, Mage, why do you oppose us? What are your interests? We can grant you anything as a powerful nation."

"Are you Swain?"

"Not Swain. Grand General Swain. Leader of Noxus. The best tactician in the whole of Runeterra. One of the best mages as well—"

"You? One of the best mages?" Ryze was doubtful.

"Yes, I am. Why doubt me?"

"You have a bird."

On Swain's shoulder was Beatrice, the monstrous-looking raven.

"I refuse to believe that a man who looks like a bird, owns a bird, and talks like a bird is magically stronger than a century-old Rune mage who has practiced magic to the peak."

Swain looked furious, his eyes narrowing. The raven shrieked as if it was offended.

"I have heard from your men that you intend to collect Runes to construct a portal that brings together interdimensional entities. Well, let me tell you—using Runes for your own desires will certainly backfire. The Runes are something you don't understand—they are the sole reason for the birth of Runeterra. They contain magic so ancient you will never know how to use it. The magic might even corrupt you, drive your soul out of your mind so that your physical body gets possessed, and you end up no better than being dead. You think you know how to use the Runes, but you will never know the true danger of using these artifacts."

Swain rested his hand on his chin. The whole army was dead silent as the Grand General contemplated of his next action. Even Darius, the most fearsome of them all, dared not make any noise.

"I've never seen Swain up close," said Lucian, still inside the building with Vayne.

"I did once, during a spy mission. Swain did this once—that time someone interrupted him, the poor man was sent to horrendous torture. Never was he heard of again."

"That explains why they all fall silent. Swain is formidable indeed."

As they spoke Swain halted with his thoughts and cast his dirty glance on Ryze.

"You are correct with the fact that Runes are not easy to control. I struggled myself as well when using them. But I have figured out the right way to use it. In fact, it is just whether you have the mentality to prevent yourself from being overtaken."

Vayne noticed that Swain's head was changing. His skin began morphing into black, his head swelling red, and his mouth extending…replaced by a gradually enlarging yellow beak. It was unimaginable, and even Vayne couldn't believe her eyes despite having seen much weirder phenomenon.

The Noxian generals, upon witnessing what would soon happen to Swain, backed away from him panickily and gestured the others to do the same.

"Get away from the Grand General! He's about to turn into a monster!"

Beatrice flew off Swain's shoulder as he continued his transformation. His size was enlarged by at least 10 times to the size of a giant. His face was already unrecognizable, morphed into a bird's face instead of a human one. Giant wings emerged from his back, the wingspan at least four to five meters long. Feathers grew from his skin, and beneath it were ravens the size of Beatrice, flying out in groups and surrounding him as moths do with a lamp.

Ryze just stood there, gazing at the grisly, appalling sight of Swain. Even the Rune mage was taken aback.

"Frankly I've never seen Swain like this before," commented Lucian, "and I have no intention of seeing it again in the future."

Seconds later Swain became a complete Raven on his own, though a lot more horrendous than his ravens. Other than the usual features of a typical raven, he had his hands replaced by two golden bird talons and his legs were covered by dozens of feathers. Hundreds of ravens swirled around him, flying in circles like a tornado.

"Fire the cannons," ordered Swain, pointing his talon (presumably hand, but it nowhere looked that way) at Ryze. His voice was severely altered into a sluggish, inhuman voice. "This man and the Demacians will pay for interfering with my plan."

* * *

Jarvan was wondering whether to kill the soldiers in front of him. He was in invisibility, after all.

"Forget about that. Escaping is the key for now," said the gypsy, who was invisible as well. They were in the main hallway, hidden from the sight of a group of men, who were leaning against the wall and doing nothing but staring at the floor.

"I could have easily killed them. They were the ones who dragged me to torture a few hours ago," said the prince.

"You and I are not sure how exactly this invisibility potion works. If the effect ends during combat…then both of us are doomed," warned the gypsy.

"I understand. And I won't do such a risky thing, despite my urges. I know the stakes."

They left the men to their own and continued on their route towards the Rune's location. It was thrilling to walk past the Noxians without being seen and to go past walls with ease.

"That door," pointed Jarvan. "The map shows that way."

The high-security doors were no match for the advanced invisibility. Before the guards knew it there were already two intruders on their way to one of the most important facilities in the whole building. There were many doors to go through, however, and some navigation later (including climbing quite a number of stairs) they arrived at a door labelled "balcony".

"It writes 'balcony', but the map says it's behind this door," said Jarvan.

"Then it must be this door. My senses never failed me," replied the gypsy, quite confidently.

Jarvan gave the gypsy a puzzled look, but regardless he walked through the door. Behind the door was a glass staircase, which he took. At the top of the staircase, however, was a sight he could not have ever imagined.

He was in a giant crystal hemispherical structure. The night sky could be seen clearly through the glass—the stars, the moon…a spectacular view. Only a thin piece of glass separated them from the outside. White spots could be seen outside the glass, very possibly the snow left behind by the blizzard, but their amount was insufficient to obstruct sight. It was a magical feeling—being in a warm environment while watching something below freezing.

Jarvan could not stop himself from awe and gazed at the ceiling.

"This is…amazing!" said Twisted fate as he emerged from the staircase.

"Indeed it is, my friend. A night sky this clear can only be seen in such a high place—"

"No, I'm not talking about the night sky. I'm talking about the purple crystal there."

"Purple crystal? Where?"

The prince had failed to notice a purple glow. The only reason he could see the glass in such a dark sky was due to the purple glow which illuminated the room. As to where the purple glow came from—it was a piece of purple crystal situated in the center of the structure, on a stone altar. It looked like a purple gemstone, except for some reason it was covered in mist.

"Is that a gemstone?" asked Jarvan.

"Well, I have seen many different types of gemstones in my career, even touched some—but to say this is a Rune? I wouldn't know that if I wasn't informed earlier."

"This shiny, sparkling crystal," said Jarvan as he walked closer and examined the artifact. "Dazzling, like those that Taric owned. I wonder why it has mist surrounding it though. It's kind of creepy."

Both of them took some time to stare at the artifact unconsciously.

"Wait, Jarvan, we aren't here to stare at this gemstone!"

"Dammit, you're right! Where's the sword Agent 87 gave us? Oh, it's in my scabbard!"

Jarvan drew the sword and gave it to the gypsy.

"He said we need to stab the sword into the gemstone, and you need to channel mana to reverse its modification. You're the only one with mana, so I'm afraid I can't do much to help."

"You should probably guard the entrance. I cannot allow disruption as I channel."

"No problem. But what do we do after we're done with this?"

"I can teleport without that obstruction from the Rune. I will 'Gate' you out of here, then. As to where I should teleport…perhaps I should find out where Agent 87 is located first."

The Card Master drew his Card of Destiny and closed his eyes. Jarvan stood there, continuing to gaze at the gemstone until Twisted fate reopened his eyes.

"What do you see, Fate?"

"We'd better hurry. Vayne, Lucian and a blue guy I do not recognize are surrounded by the whole Noxian army. Agent 87 is standing amid the frontline."

Jarvan's face turned pale.

"They'll never win. Agent 87 said he'll bring us out, but I don't know how. Still, we don't have much of a choice here. You'd better start now, Fate."

"On it."

Twisted fate walked to the front of the stone altar and raised his sword, ready to insert its tip into the gemstone.

 _If conditions allow, I will certainly steal you instead of destroying you. You could be worth a fortune, but you leave me no choice._

The gypsy tried hard not to let his thief-like instincts take over. Closing his eyes, he thrust the sword into the artifact.

He had heard that gemstones were hard as diamonds—but somehow the purple-looking sword could still penetrate its crystalline surface and slice into the crystal. Fate then did what he was told—channeling his mana into the sword. He wasn't able to at first, but gradually he remembered the way to channel mana, he himself last used this trick roughly 10 years ago.

He then remembered Agent 87 warned that the sword could consume a ridiculous amount of mana.

 _Screw that. I've drunk enough mana potions, enough to sustain me for more than a week. Let's see how much you will consume._

He felt energy drained from him. But he had plenty anyway, so he wasn't concerned at all.

 _Greetings, human._

 _Huh? Who are you?_

 _I am the living incarnation of the Runes. I am here to promise you of immense power._

Twisted fate found out he couldn't move his body. Only his eyes could move, and he could only see what was happening in his front.

The mist had evolved into a large area of smoke, enclosing Twisted fate and prevented him from seeing anything at all. Amid the smoke the gypsy could see a humanoid face in front of him, looking at him.

 _Do you want power? I can give lots and lots of power to you._

 _Why do I need power?_

 _Power can grant you a lot of things. It can give you the strength needed to defeat an entire army, forcing them to bend to your will. You will become ruler of the world, and everything you want will be granted._

 _Well, that looks like an excellent lifestyle, but I don't necessarily buy that._

 _Why is that, human? Care to explain?_

 _Being a ruler does not grant pleasure. Knowing that everything is under your control is not life at all._

 _How is it not? You will have everything!_

 _Yes. But you lose the thrill of challenge. When there is no challenge, life is meaningless. When you have control of everything you basically stay in autopilot mode, doing stuff for the sake of doing stuff. You lose that thrill in life. And without that thrill, I would rather be dead than alive._

…

…

 _But I'm sure that you would have once wished you had enough power, right? In certain situations._

 _Such as?_

 _Witnessing your village being slaughtered brutally._

…

Twisted fate wondered how the voice knew about that, but he remembered vividly what happened. His gypsy tribe was living in harmony when he was a kid, for many years, until the day he was 18. His tribe was attacked by a group of witches, and his younger-self watched as his relatives and friends died defending their family. His parents survived, but fled and were never heard of ever since. Though he was quite sure the three of them were the only ones who survived the onslaught.

 _If only I had enough power._

 _That's my boy. Long for power. Thirst for power. You will gain it if you continue thinking this way._

Twisted fate could feel his mana not depleting, but instead increasing, as the mana flow returned to him instead.

 _No. Power does not change anything._

 _Why? Why do you think like that?_

 _There is something called "balance" in our world. When there is light, there is darkness—when there is white, there is black. When there is too much light, darkness will move in to balance—when there is too much white, blackness will move in to balance. Even with immense power, there will be one day when you will lose all of them—or taken by another person. No one can control everything. This world's fate is not subject to how much power one has. It is all up to Destiny. The world is essentially a product of chance._

Unbeknownst to Twisted fate, a small crack appeared on the surface of the purple crystal.

* * *

During this time Jarvan was watching Twisted fate perform his act. He eventually found it boring so he turned to gaze at the night sky instead.

Back in Demacia nowhere could someone see an identical night sky. Either there were too many clouds, or that altitude was a key to watching stars—standing in a higher position implies you will see a better view. Despite being in enemy territory, Jarvan was very pleased with what he had seen, something he couldn't have seen if he stayed in Demacia.

This particular adventure from the Zaun harbour to the monster-filled mountains, then to the College of Techmaturgy, then to the top of the Ironspike mountains…it was something he had yet to experience as a Demacian prince. No prince had gone to such places before, let alone in only less than two weeks. Sure, there were many dangers, but Jarvan was glad he could experience all of this, making him feel like a lucky man yet a true hero.

If he successfully destroyed the Demon's portal, that is.

Suddenly he noticed Twisted fate sweating much more than usual. Larger-than-usual sweat drops descended from his forehead, even dripping on the floor.

 _What's happening to him? Do I need to do anything?_

Jarvan had no idea what to do with this phenomenon. But sweating certainly did not result in death, and this he prayed that he wouldn't die of over-sweating.

But the next moment he heard footsteps from below. Someone was coming up from the glass staircase.

 _****. Probably someone finally discovered we've escaped._

Jarvan's heart began beating madly as his mind wondered what to do.

 _I must defend Twisted fate, by all means._

Jarvan drew his lance, readying himself for the potential confrontation ahead. He looked back at Twisted fate.

 _My friend, you'd better grant us some luck. We're in desperate need of them._

"This is the last place we've searched. Surely he must be here!"

"Jarvan the Fourth will be. I don't care about the gypsy, just get me the prince's head."

A group of men emerged from the glass staircase. All were typical Noxian soldiers dressed in black armor, armed with swords.

Jarvan took in a deep breath.

"You Noxians, how dare you! I shall take my revenge on you by slaughtering you all!"

The prince pointed his lance at them and raised his shield in battle stance. But there was one thing that puzzled him.

He was not acknowledged. At all.

"There! There is the gypsy!" one of the men yelled. "He's stabbing the artifact Swain said it's important! We need to kill him now!"

Jarvan was extremely confused, then realized what actually happened.

 _I'm still invisible! Right! Why didn't I think of this before?_

One of the men prepared to toss his sword at an unaware Twisted fate. It was not difficult to imagine the surprise when the soldier found his chest stabbed by a lance instead. Before he could react or toss the sword he collapsed and fell to the floor, dead.

"No. Not on my watch."

The men were shocked and counter-attacked only when Jarvan was able to kill another soldier. They were easily defeated, however, as Jarvan simply blocked their attacks with his shield and attacked rapidly such that their shields were knocked away, giving Jarvan the chance to pierce their chests with his lance. On the contrary, the men weren't strong enough to knock away Jarvan's shield and fell one by one due to Jarvan's lance.

The prince gazed at the bodies on the floor.

 _That was pretty easy._

Suddenly he heard another voice.

"I'm coming boys! Wait for me! The prince is mine!"

The prince recognized the voice. No doubt it belonged to—

"Draven in."

He was none other than Draven, the glorious executioner in the infamous guillotine arena in Noxus. Jarvan knew him more as a playboy instead of a real threat to the Demacian military, but he heard rumors that Draven's strength could match those of Darius, and Darius was literally unmatched in terms of physical power.

"Oh, hi there Prince Jarvan!" said Draven, putting up his enthusiastic face. "Draven thinks it's fun to personally cut you to pieces, Demacian."

"And Draven doesn't know he'll get destroyed soon," shot back Jarvan. "Draven cannot match a skilled fighter."

"Is that how you think of yourself, prince? Draven will show you."

Draven drew an axe—the axe half the size of a fully-grown man—and spun it, walking forward towards the Demacian. The prince raised his shield and tried to block Draven's attack, but he could not have imagined the strength of Draven. Each time the axe-end struck the shield, the shield cracked for a bit. It hit like a truck—even strong shields couldn't withstand his strength. Moments later the shield broke into pieces, leaving Jarvan with no defense.

Draven then launched his axe straight at the prince, but Jarvan leapt out of its path. Unfortunately, the axe did hit something else—his lance. His only melee weapon was knocked out of his hand, knocked meters away from him. It would take a few seconds for him to reclaim the lance.

The executioner was quite pleased to see that and approached Jarvan menacingly with a smirk until he turned and saw Twisted fate.

"Wait, isn't that the artifact which is very important?"

It was then that Jarvan realized they were in very, very deep trouble.

"You see, Jarvan, I'd really want to kill you first, but your friend is violating Big Raven's rules. And I'll have to kill him first, for the sake and glory of Noxus. And I'll probably enjoy seeing him explode into pieces of flesh," said Draven. He spun the axe and aimed at the gypsy, ignoring Jarvan.

However, he had good reason to do so. Jarvan's only weapon was gone, leaving him with nothing but his fists. The distance between him and Draven would take him more than a few seconds to close—which would compel Draven to kill him instantly. Since Draven chose not to kill him for some reason, he thought he could do something to compensate.

What could he do?

Only a ranged weapon would suffice, though Jarvan glanced around and saw none.

All of a sudden, his brain came up with an idea. A ridiculous idea, in fact, but attemptable.

Quickly the prince removed his helmet. Before Draven could throw his axe, Jarvan hurled the helmet at Draven, aimed for his head.

The executioner was definitely surprised when he felt his head hitting something hard. Or more like, something hard hit his head.

Draven let go of the axe and it fell harmlessly to the ground. The executioner himself was knocked out cold, and collapsed to the ground as well, just like the fallen Noxians.

Jarvan was breathing very heavily. Had he not done so, Twisted fate would be dead, and no matter whether Jarvan could survive the duel between him and Draven, he'll sure be dead being surrounded by tons of Noxians. Without them, Vayne, Lucian and Agent 87 would surely end up dead as well.

Jarvan's act had saved all five of them. And potentially all of Demacia. And potentially all of Runeterra.

A sense of proudness went over his mind.

Then the prince heard something similar to the shattering of glass.

The purple gemstone broke apart in a split second, dissolving into pieces as it flew in all directions, landing everywhere in small pieces. The mist was completely gone. At the same time, Twisted fate opened his eyes and instantly realized what was going on around him. They were attacked, and somehow his channel was not interrupted. But he knew what was most important.

The anti-teleportation Rune was destroyed.

* * *

 **Author's note:**

 **Hope seems to rekindle as the Rune is destroyed. Who exactly is Agent 87? What is his true motivation? Is he a Noxian? How did he know so much? Despite being human, he actually plays a substantial part in helping the gypsy and the Demacians to foil Swain's grand scheme. (Ryze will assist as well.) But what is his true extent of powers? Most importantly, who is he?**

 **Hint: He is a champion, though not in a way you would imagine.**


	30. Chapter 29

"Attack, comrades!"

Swain's order went through the entire army, who had surrounded the whole building, denying any chance for Ryze and the Demacians to escape. There were hundreds of even thousands of Noxian soldiers, each armed with weapons and armor to battle to the death when necessary.

"Arm the cannons! Prepare to launch the bombshells!" Darius commanded. As he finished a number of cannons were moved out from the frontlines and were pointed at Ryze. Ryze watched as the cannon openings pointed at him one by one, and eventually he saw himself becoming the one and only target in the whole vicinity.

"Fire on three!"

Ryze didn't even flinch upon hearing that. Despite wielding no weapons, he was rather confident that he would be able to withstand the might of dozens of bombshells—all by himself.

"Two!"

Ryze created a blue Runic wall in front of him, wide and tall enough to shield him. He pointed his finger sideways, and the wall extended to wherever he pointed.

"One!"

Ryze had successfully created four walls which pointed North, East, South, and West respectively, shielding him from every direction. The Rune mage then pointed at the sky to create the last wall that faced upwards, thus completely enclosing him.

"Fire!"

The men took no notice of Ryze's walls and fired regardless. Hundreds of bombshells were launched towards the building and crashed into the Rune walls one by one, triggering fiery explosions that almost engulfed the area where Ryze occupied. The scene turned into a fireworks show as the artillery ceased to stop and loud, booming noises spread all the way through the mountains.

"Halt your fire!"

At first, Darius's voice was pale in comparison with the sound of the bombshells, but nearby soldiers got the message and notified the others with great efficiency—the attack ceased a few seconds later.

"Wait for the smoke to clear, and we'll see how big the crater is," said Darius. "I don't see how he'll survive that."

The thick smoke dissolved gradually, though it took some time. As their sight cleared, the Noxians focused on the spot to see what remained.

Indeed, there was a giant crater in the spot where Ryze stood, the size of two elephants. It was deep as well, like those caused by asteroids. And right above the crater was the Rune Mage himself, enclosed in his six walls (the new one supporting his feet) which were utterly undamaged and unchanged. There wasn't even a scratch on the walls.

Not only was Ryze floating above the crater, he survived—and there wasn't even a single drop of blood.

"You think these military weapons can harm me? Pathetic. Your so-called guns and bombs cannot harm me—they cannot break through Rune magic!"

In utter disbelief, there was an uproar in the entire army like protesters. They could not take in the fact that despite using most of their artillery, which should have demolished a castle entirely in normal occasions, couldn't do any harm to the mage in front of them.

The army was silenced, however, when Swain took a step forward and walked towards Ryze, step by step with his bulky, bird-like figure.

"You should be dead by now, but you didn't. You said that mortal weapons cannot harm you. But I'm not just a simple mortal. I utilize part of the Rune's power—and my magic will rival your abilities!"

As he spoke the scepter he held suddenly turned bright green and the hand Swain used in grasping the scepter turned green as well. The green energy from the scepter was first transferred to Swain's arm, then to his body. In a while, the Grand General was glowing in green like an emerald. By that time the soldiers had kept themselves at least 10 meters away from their leader.

For all this time Ryze was completely fearless of the threats that the Noxians posed. But upon witnessing the horrific sight of Swain's transformation and the abnormal activity of his scepter, even he thought his eyes were playing tricks on him.

"That's a Rune in your scepter! How…how did you fuse it with your staff?"

Ryze had never seen a Rune bonded with an object magically. For one, how did Swain manage to break the Rune? He thought that he was the only one who knew the method. Secondly, the magic inside the Rune was supposed to instantaneously dissolve upon losing its physical form, but how did they manage to fuse the magic into the scepter, allowing the scepter to replace the Rune physically?

"That wasn't too difficult," said Swain, in his disturbingly sluggish, inhuman voice. "My intensive knowledge in the use of artifacts, combined with a little help from the 'Master of Death', is integral in the creation of this scepter. And I'm mentally strong enough to combat the temptation of the Runes, just like you, and be its master instead of becoming its slave."

Swain pointed his scepter at Ryze.

"But I was born with power. Magical capabilities that exceed those who practiced magic for years. And with the enhancement of the Runes, I will be the strongest mage ever existed—and I will exterminate those who obstruct my intentions of this world. Unfortunately, Ryze, you choose to stand in my path. Thus, you will suffer for your foolish actions—beginning with your death."

Ryze watched as the huge flock of ravens which flew around Swain group together, forming a thick, black cloud of birds. Then the cloud flew towards Ryze in a terrifyingly quick speed. He watched as the ravens surrounded his walls completely, leaving no gaps for Ryze to see what went on outside. They attempted to tear open the walls with their beaks, rapping violently and relentlessly at the walls.

The Rune mage continued to supply Runic energy to the walls to prevent their destruction. As magical energy is transferred from Ryze's hands to the walls, they seemed to be able to withstand the might of the birds.

At least until Swain arrived in front of Ryze's protective cage.

"You think this barrier will prevent you from harm?" he asked. He then clenched his bird talons, drew back his fist and slammed the wall with such force that even the wall shook.

At the spot where Swain punched was a crack.

"So this wall isn't that unbreakable as it seems, right?" Swain taunted. Then he stored his energy to his fist before punching the wall again with crushing force.

A second crack appeared.

Ryze knew what would happen eventually. He couldn't do this forever. Maintaining the wall required a massive amount of energy. If he kept on for more than a minute, he wouldn't have the strength to combat Swain, who didn't even use any of his abilities.

Back in the building, Vayne and Lucian watched the horror as well. They were at the top of the building, so they could see everything that happened below them.

"Geez, that is disgusting! Look at those birds!"

"I seriously doubt Ryze can survive that. Do something, Lucian."

Lucian turned his gaze on Vayne with an incredulous look.

"I'm going to run out of silver bolts," she defended, crossing her arms.

"That seems like a valid argument."

Meanwhile, Swain continued his attack on Ryze's wall. The Rune mage figured out he couldn't hold much longer.

 _I'd better get out of here._

With one hand still channeling energy to the walls, Ryze used his other hand to create a blue portal right beneath him. The portal engulfed Ryze in blue light, to the point when even Swain couldn't see what was going on inside.

"You shall die, Rune mage!"

Swain drew back his talons, storing energy once again in preparation for the final strike. The Rune walls were already close to its breaking point, evident by the sheer number of cracks on it, and any further attack would demolish it completely.

"Submit, Ryze!"

Swain's fist smashed the wall once again. This time, it did not crack—it broke entirely. Millions of tiny shards of solid mana fell from the place where the wall had formerly stood, landing on the ground in the form of small pieces of crystals.

The ravens, upon realizing that the barriers separating them from their prey were gone, flocked into the spot where Ryze stood and swarmed the entire place.

"Get him! Tear him to shreds," ordered Swain, who began laughing like a maniac. "My birds will devour you, once you lost your only source of protection."

"That is wrong, Swain."

In a sense of disbelief, Swain turned towards the direction where the sound came from. Yes, floating up in the air was Ryze himself, able to stay in the air with the help of a Runic platform beneath his feet. He crossed his arms and looked down upon Swain as if he was a God himself, his face suggesting disappointment.

"You think you can kill me that way. Now I've escaped from certain death twice, you will know why I am one of the best mages ever existed, rather than a bird freak like you. I underestimated you, but now I will not make that mistake again. You and I, let's get this over with."

Ryze created a large Runic energy orb with his hands, then fired it at the birds. It struck a dozen of birds which died instantly to the blast. Then the Runic missile spread towards nearby birds, who died to it as well. The orb that Ryze had just made was a special one—it would spread to other targets upon hitting its initial one. It was usually used in dealing with a large group of targets.

In only a matter of seconds, the swarm of birds was drastically cut to less than a quarter in numbers.

"You…YOU!" shouted Swain. "You filthy bastard! You are no better than those Demacians!"

Lucian watched as Swain did yet another unimaginable thing—he began to fly. With his monstrous wings, he ascended into the air. His figure mirrored a giant raven, flying towards Ryze. A green energy beam was fired from his talons towards the Rune mage, while the Rune mage fired a blue beam from his hands as well. As the two beams collided it produced a shockwave and a loud "boom", which compelled everyone nearby to cover their ears.

Ryze and Swain were face-to-face, meters apart from each other, while their respective beams collided in the center. It was so bright that even one who stood high up in the clouds and looked down miles away would see the blue and green lights emitted from their clash.

"That is…the Clash of Gods," exclaimed Lucian, who was still trying to comprehend what was happening in front of him.

"Wait…I hear someone coming up from downstairs," warned Vayne. "We'd better go check that out."

"Who can possibly walk into this building, when Ryze and Swain are fighting this violently? Oh wait, there is a tunnel."

Vayne armed her crossbow and stealthily trotted down the stairs, her footsteps not making a sound. Lucian followed, holding his guns tight.

 _Whoever is here better come out right now, or else._

"Someone's running up the stairs. I can't see the target though—"

"Stay back, Shauna!"

Lucian ran in front of Vayne, pointed at the stairs and fired his guns in every direction possible.

Nothing was visible down the stairs at first, but after Lucian fired some shots were found to disappear into the air instead of hitting the end of the stairs as the other shots did. It was a dead giveaway—someone was taking the shots, despite being invisible.

A while later a man was revealed to be the one invisible, using his cloak to take the shots directly. It was no other than Talon himself. He had turned invisible and tried to sneak up the stairs, but failed to realize that Lucian's firepower was way too strong.

"These…shots…hurt!" he managed to yell, as he used the blue cloak he wore to intercept the shots.

Vayne drew a silver bolt and was ready to shoot Talon.

"I'm coming, brother!"

Emerging from the stairs below was Katarina herself, wearing her assassin outfit. Her red hair danced in the air as she hurried upstairs towards Vayne and Lucian.

She tossed two daggers towards Lucian. Lucian saw that and tried to dodge accordingly, but Katarina was too fast and Lucian could only keep his body from harm—the daggers hit both of his guns, to his surprise, and knocked them out of his hands. His guns went flying for quite some distance and landed somewhat far away. Lucian was left unarmed.

Though she temporarily disabled Lucian, Katarina could not stop Vayne in time—and Talon felt a jolt of sharp pain on his arm, which was used to support his cloak. He collapsed to the ground, laying down without any movement, while blood began to spill from his arm.

"No, brother!"

Katarina's face was of grief for a split second. Then in pure rage and anger, she dashed towards Vayne at a terrifying speed, reaching her before she could fire a second shot.

Vayne tumbled away just in time as Katarina tried to stab her with yet another dagger. She readied another bolt but realized that she was in deep trouble—there were only five silver bolts left in her arsenal. Fortunately, no one other than her knew about that at that moment (even Lucian), but it wouldn't take an idiot to discover the truth when she suddenly began to fight with no bolts.

Lucian, meanwhile, wanted to help but he was smart enough to acknowledge that he couldn't fight an expert assassin with weapons with himself unarmed. He sought to deal with Talon, who was previously seen wounded.

But instead, Lucian caught him eating a few pills while lying down. He advanced towards him in an attempt to stop him but did not expect him to stand up and point his blade at Lucian threateningly.

"The painkillers—this helps tremendously against the wound she inflicted on me," explained Talon, who then proceeded to pull out Vayne's bolt from his arm, but not without screaming in agony.

Lucian found a sword nearby on the floor, possibly left by a Noxian soldier. He ran over and picked it up as Talon seemed to recover from his wounds.

"You think a sword can defend you, huh?" taunted Talon. "I don't think someone who could use a gun properly can fight with a sword as well."

"I can defend myself quite fine," said Lucian. "And you'd better get me occupied because if you give me a chance to grab my guns, I'll vaporize you in seconds."

"You might not survive for the next few minutes," said Talon. "I'll cut you into pieces with my blades."

Meanwhile, Katarina saw that Talon wasn't dead after all and brightened up.

"You've taken many lives from us Noxians, Night Hunter," said Katarina, smirking, focusing back on Vayne.

"I'm pale in comparison to a certain red-haired assassin who had infiltrated Demacian military camps for numerous times and left without a trace while leaving dozens of bodies behind," she shot back.

"That is a fitting description of me, lady. You look noble to me, like those born from rich families. But I was born to kill. Raised by a family of assassins, taught the way of assassins, and given the role of being an assassin. This very difference between you and me will separate us—you being the good but me being the superior one."

"You talk a lot, Katarina. How about we actually get our hands dirty?"

"As you wish, Demacian."

Suddenly there was the sound of breaking stone. The four of them turned around to see Ryze crashing down from a stone wall, eventually landing on the floor with loads of stone debris around him.

"Ouch…"

Ryze was bleeding, to their surprise. Yet the Rune mage was still able to stand up, though not without some struggle.

Katarina and Talon knew well that they couldn't fight someone with powers that could rival Swain's, so they abandoned their fights and ran from the spot without delay.

"That was some quick running from them," remarked Lucian. "As fast as they got in."

"It's over," panted Ryze, still recovering from his unannounced entrance. Interestingly his face of confidence had disappeared completely, replaced by one of despair and hopelessness.

"Swain is too strong. The abilities he has is too oppressive, combined with the Runes. Even I cannot fight him. Not to mention that I have yet to fight a battle this intense for more than a century, and my powers have dulled."

"Where's your confidence, Ryze? You said Swain was no more than a piece of cake before the fight," commented Vayne. As she said so Lucian ran and reclaimed his guns.

"Your time is over, Demacians," announced Swain as he singlehandedly tore open the roof and entered the room. He was still in his giant raven form—with a few bruises and deforms on his skin. But Swain's wounds were pale in comparison to Ryze's, who was bleeding all over his body having being tossed through a stone wall.

The entire roof of the building was lifted into the air by Swain with his magic. A green glow surrounded the stone roof which ascended into the air. Then Swain pointed at a direction and the whole roof dashed towards the direction in high speed.

Since the entire roof of the building was ripped apart by Swain, there was no hiding. The Grand General flapped his giant wings and hovered in the air, looking down upon the three of them.

Lucian was on the other side of the room, having collected his guns. With quick footsteps, he hurried back to his allies, but somehow Swain did not stop him.

"Good, good. For I shall exterminate you all at once," boomed Swain. He then continued his speech:

"Most of the time when we corner our enemies, we give them a choice—to join our ranks. Otherwise, they die. In my experience, most Demacians…choose the unwise choice. But you two are smart Demacians, I suppose, and the mage isn't Demacian after all. I believe you will make the right choice at this despairing situation. All three of you have abilities that I admire, to some extent. If you join us, be guaranteed that you will live extravagantly and without regret. We Noxians will be very rich once we succeed in conquering all nations in Runeterra, so why not join our growing nation? No, not nation—superpower. We will be the one and only superpower in Runeterra! So here is my question, my fellow friends: Will you choose to join Noxus?"

"I'd rather kill myself than to join those filthy Noxians," said Lucian, "but if we die then there will certainly be no hope to destroy the Demon's portal!"

"Time is limited, unfortunately," added Swain, "so I will give you 30 seconds to consider. Failure to give me a satisfying answer will result in your death. A painful one, I guarantee. Your time starts now."

"I would have chosen to die," said Vayne, "but Lucian's right. If we die, Runeterra will be doomed."

"But I refuse to work under someone like a slave," said Ryze. "Besides I don't think he is trustable."

"Everyone has a point here…what do we do? I need an answer, ASAP!" asked Lucian. For possibly the first time he began to lose his cool.

"Wait, I think I felt something."

"What is that, Ryze?"

"I feel the destruction of a Rune, from far away," explained Ryze. "This one is exceptionally powerful, so even I can feel it."

"What does this have to do with our current situation?" asked Lucian.

"I know it doesn't, but it's just a remark."

"It does."

The three of them turned to see Agent 87 emerging from the stairs. Unlike the other Noxian assassins, however, he trotted up slowly as if he was a King.

Vayne, Lucian, and Ryze aimed their weapons at him, treating him like a hostile.

To their surprise, Agent 87 ignored their threats. He simply smiled when he walked past them and looked up, facing Swain. He stood in front of the three.

"What do you think you are doing?" accused Vayne.

"I'm trying to save you," he replied, to their absolute shock.

"What is this, Agent 87? Don't stand between me and my soon-to-be servants," said the Grand General.

"Unfortunately, Swain, I plan to take them away from you," he casually replied. He crossed his arms over his bare chest.

"You might be one of us, but I will, too, not hesitate to kill you if you stand in my way," Swain warned.

"You're wrong. You won't be able to kill me. Plus, I have allies who will soon reach here."

"Correction—already here."

The words came from Twisted fate, who appeared from a white glow and a circle of cards behind them. Jarvan stepped out from the light as well, holding his lance, dressed in Noxian armor and grasping a purple…gemstone. Meanwhile, Twisted fate held a purple-looking sword.

Vayne, Lucian, and Ryze turned their gaze on them and dropped their jaws yet again. The sudden change in events was too difficult to keep up.

Agent 87, however, did not break eye contact with Swain.

"See, your prisoners are here. Not only are they freed, they destroyed the anti-teleportation Rune and gave me the means to escape from here."

"Here, Agent 87. This is what you told me to give you…" Before Jarvan could finish his sentence the purple gemstone flew out of his hand and was grabbed by Agent 87 mid-air. During this time Agent 87 did nothing but raise his hand, and the gemstone automatically reached within his grasp. He raised his other hand as well, which caught the sword Twisted fate was holding beforehand.

"You think I am a Noxian, Swain, but even the Master Tactician is prone to be fooled one day. And you have no idea of my true identity after all, even if I have served in the Noxian military for more than 10 years. Today, I will tell you the one thing you failed to anticipate."

Agent 87 then held the gemstone tightly, so tightly that the gemstone began to shake. It vibrated violently and eventually broke, shattering into pieces.

But following its destruction was the release of purple energy, which entered Agent 87's body. Then a bright violet glow emitted from his body, preventing the others from seeing him clearly. It was noticed, however, that his body was undergoing some serious change.

When the purple glow dissolved a few seconds later, Agent 87 had transformed. Transformed completely to the point that he was unrecognizable as his previous self. He wore a suit that was presumably made of metal, and a helmet with a number of tubes and two yellow, glowing eyes in the center. The purple gemstone was gone but the sword remains, and in fact, it had enlarged to a sword the size of Jarvan's lance.

"You…you…" muttered an unsuspecting Swain, who did not see any of this coming. Even his demonic crimson eyes widened.

"Agent 87 is just a codename I made up. I assume you know that, but I shall reveal my real name, the one name that will be remembered as the only person who succeeded in being a mole in Noxus."

"My name is…Kassadin."

* * *

Twisted fate noticed that Kassadin's voice had been quite mechanical, similar to those of robots.

"My job here is officially done. I shall thank you for everything you have provided me for the years I've served in the Noxian military, for I am about to depart from you."

With that, he pointed his sword at the five individuals behind him. Soon a purple beam was fired from his sword, which halted at a spot and began to construct an object the size of a typical door. Within seconds a rectangular portal was created, albeit emitting purple particles. It was roughly a meter wide and two meters tall.

"Get in the portal, now!" ordered Kassadin. "This is a portal that will lead you to safety."

"NO! I will not let you leave without consequence," roared Swain. He channeled a green, magical beam and directed it at the six of them.

"DIE!"

The beam, however, was blocked by a purple shield. It turned out that Kassadin had created a magical shield that enclosed the six of them.

Meanwhile, the other five exchanged glances at each other, unsure of what to do.

"So…I assume we jump into that portal?" asked Jarvan.

"Um…I think so," replied Twisted fate. "Well, guys, I don't intend to die here just yet and I don't see any other way to escape, so I shall take my leave and jump into the portal. And I suggest you do the same."

Without a word, the gypsy leapt into the portal. A while later the other four heard his voice from the portal.

"Hey, it's actually pretty safe here! There is a glass road here as well! I can't see the bottom though…it looks endlessly deep."

"Let's do this, Demacians. Gotta put some trust in a stranger at some point, right Vayne?" said Jarvan, who winked at the Night Hunter. "I know you don't trust anybody, but pretty sure you will die this time if you don't. Now I shall jump in first. See you on the other side, fellows."

"I'm going as well," said Ryze. "I won't allow Swain to enslave me."

Vayne and Lucian glanced at each other as both Jarvan and Ryze entered the portal.

"My experience tells me that this has a high chance of not ending well. But we're operating as a team now, and I'm afraid we have to follow them," said Lucian. "Can't just abandon them, you know."

"We'd better get in then. Kassadin might not hold much longer."

Kassadin watched the last of them enter the portal. He heaved a sigh of relief, for maintaining the shield was not the easiest task to do. He was sweating hard and his hand that wielded the sword was drained of strength.

"Goodbye, Swain."

Kassadin waved goodbye as he stepped towards the portal, intending to leave the place.

"NO!"

In a desperate attempt, Swain used his beak as a method to break through the shield instead. He rapped the shield in quick succession, and seconds later a large hole was torn open in the shield, large enough for Swain to fly through.

Which he did, ultimately.

At that time Kassadin had put his leg into the portal.

"Come and get me, Swain," taunted Kassadin, waving his hand yet again.

"I WILL GET YOU!"

Swain swooped down from the air, about to collapse on Kassadin. But Kassadin had already fully entered the portal and he simply closed the portal with his sword. The portal shrunk rapidly, and when the portal was the size of the palm of his hand he could see Swain's monstrous beak in front of him, mere inches from his chest. He wouldn't be fast enough to dodge, and the beak was on track to pierce through his flesh.

Except it failed to, eventually, since the portal had disappeared at the very last millisecond. Kassadin was still registering how close he was to certain death.

 _I was lucky that portal closed in time._

Yet he simply shrugged off the whole event and looked around his surroundings.

There was nothing. Literally nothing in this place. The sky consisted of a mixture of different kinds of purple. It was lighter in colour at the top, however, and the bottom was darker in comparison.

He was standing on a bridge made of a transparent material, nearly identical to glass. The bridge seemed to extend infinitely into two directions. Interestingly, the bridge was the only object in the entire place. It was absolutely silent here, with the exception of footsteps. It was slightly cold, though his body armor kept him warm.

Twisted fate, Jarvan, Vayne, Lucian, and Ryze were on the other side of the bridge, in awe of the unfamiliar and unsettling sight.

"What is this place?" asked Twisted fate, who did not care much about spectacular views anyway.

"This is the Void," Kassadin plainly replied.

"The Void?" Vayne was close to shouting as she said this. "Why did you bring us here—are you seeking to trap us?"

"You misunderstood, woman," replied Kassadin casually. He took no notice of Vayne's sudden anger, while Twisted fate and the Demacians began to keep their distance from her.

"You claimed that you are saving us. But now you bring us right to the Void, the dimension of Hell itself! And there is no other way out of this place! Are you saving us from Swain, just to torment us yourself?"

Ryze took notice of what Vayne said.

"If what she's said is true, Kassadin, then I'm afraid I have to do you harm." Ryze pointed accusingly at the man who had just saved them.

Kassadin stifled a laugh.

"You see, you cannot kill me here if you want to escape alive. I am the only one who knows how this place works, and if I die, all of you will be trapped here for eternal life. I doubt Twisted fate can teleport out of a dimension."

"I can teleport as well," said Ryze, "but not between dimensions."

"Since I've taken you here, perhaps you should put some trust in me if you want me to guide you out of this place. Our goal is to defeat Swain and destroy the Demon's portal, and I know the details more than you do. You will need my help to deactivate the Demon's portal."

Ryze nodded his head, despite being completely hostile towards Kassadin a while ago.

"Right. What matters most is that we prevent the portal from activation."

Vayne also turned less hostile. She lowered her crossbow.

"Good. Now since you're in doubt, I would very much like to do some explaining. But the thing is, you probably wouldn't want to stay in the Void for long, so tell me the location which you want to go since I can't come up with any."

"What is at the bottom of this place?" asked Twisted fate, who was glancing at the dark-purplish area beneath the bridge.

"I strongly suggest that you forget about what you asked. You will not like my answer—"

Kassadin was interrupted mid-speech when an unworldly, highly disturbing growl was heard from the bottom of the Void. The sound was close to those found in nightmares, and it echoed all around the place. It was creepier than usual since there was nothing at sight, only purple.

Twisted fate glanced around in horror, but even his goldfish-sized eyes couldn't reassure him that there wasn't any monster at sight. The others weren't nearly as frightened, but they did take a few extra glances of their surroundings more frequently.

"Um, tell me that no monster will emerge from below," muttered the gypsy, who began shivering.

"As I told you, the Void isn't a place for everybody. You're already scared to death even when we're way above the actual Void where the creatures lurk."

Kassadin halted as he saw a crack spreading through the bridge. It was small but noticeable.

"Um…what does this crack suggest? Is this bridge going to break or something?" Twisted fate was definitely worried.

"It suggests that if the bridge cannot stand the weight of six people for long and if you don't give me a location we will fall into the Void before long."

"How do we tell you the location? You can't picture the location in your head, I suppose?" said Jarvan.

"Conveniently, I have a Demacian map," replied Kassadin. He took out a piece of folded paper, which turned out to be the same map Jarvan owned at his palace—the most updated one.

"How did you?! This version of the map is the latest! And it's used exclusively in the military—we did not disclose it publicly!"

"As I said, Demacia isn't as clean as you think."

"Damn. How did Noxians even get this deep—"

"I shall tell you what you need to know later. You will certainly like to hear some Noxian secrets after I unveiled a huge number of Demacian ones."

Jarvan shot a dirty look at Kassadin.

"It is not easy to be a double agent. Though I doubt Noxians have their own double-crossers. Trust me, what I know is a lot more valuable than what I told them."

The prince paid more attention to the map than to Kassadin's words.

"We'll settle that later. Now, where do we go?"

"Vayne! Let's go to your house," suggested Lucian as he placed his arm around the Night Hunter's shoulder, himself smirking.

The woman was seemingly deep in thought, for she did not respond and was staring downwards blankly.

"I mean, you aren't a fan of strangers, but we have important tools at your place that will come in handy."

"Give me the map," she managed to say.

"Wait—you actually agree to go there? I thought you'd need some tough convincing," asked Lucian incredulously, as Jarvan handed the map to Vayne.

"I'm running out of ammo. Plus this is worse than I thought, so I need some extra gear, which is only available at home. Here, Kassadin. Teleport us to the location I'm pointing at. If it is not exactly the spot, I'll lead you there. It wouldn't be far."

"Good," said Kassadin.

* * *

"Ah, civilization. I remember when I was a part of it."

Ryze was wandering around the living room, admiring the decorations. At the same time, the others were sitting on the sofa, at rest. Twisted fate, Jarvan, and Kassadin were each drinking a cup of coffee, while the gypsy had a few bottles of mana potions beside him, placed on the sofa as well. He was also in charge of the Hextech coffee machine, in fact.

The Demon's portal was a problem that required immediate attention, but everyone needed to gear up—Twisted fate needed mana potions, Vayne and Lucian need to reload and rearm themselves, Jarvan needed a new set of armor, Ryze and Kassadin needed to recharge themselves with power…so they had to rest for some time before they could return to the Ironspikes.

Jarvan wanted to call for assistance—the Demacian military, for help. Help was crucial, after all, when they were severely outnumbered. Actually, it wasn't Jarvan—it was Twisted fate who first suggested the idea.

"Can we like, ask the Demacian army to join us?" Twisted fate brought up a solution—to ask for assistance. "Fighting in six against hundreds isn't exactly the best battle plan, is it?"

"Sounds like a good idea," agreed Jarvan, nodding in approval. "Perhaps I should go back to the city and assemble some—"

"NO!" shouted Kassadin. "Do not bring along anyone else."

"Huh? Why is that?"

"Teleportation has its limitations," said Kassadin. "Ryze cannot teleport far away and Twisted fate cannot teleport with more than one partner. My teleportation…well… is superior to the both of them, but the bridge in the Void can only withstand so much weight before it gives way. I believe that we are barely able to walk over the bridge, and one more person is no doubt out of the question. Remember that crack in the bridge?"

"I do. I don't want that to happen again. I'll just sneak back and get myself some armor and some potions."

It was sometime later when they could relax and drink some coffee.

"Want some coffee, Ryze? You're the only one who hasn't drunk coffee yet."

"Ah yes, sure. I wouldn't want to miss it," said Ryze in enthusiasm. It was clear that he must have either never drunk coffee before, or had drunk it ages ago (if he really lived through centuries).

"Just pour me the coffee. As full as you can."

"Come take it yourself…oh nevermind."

No sooner did Twisted fate fill up the cup fully with black coffee than the cup drifted away by itself and land on Ryze's hand. Surprisingly, not a single drop of coffee was spilled.

"Let me try this—ah, it tastes good. This one is a lot more different than those centuries ago. Bitter, but strong. I like it."

The gypsy smiled, then took a sip of his own black coffee.

He did not expect to return to Vayne's house this early. But then he had no idea a few days ago that there were other individuals that could teleport as well as he could, or even better. After days in a hotel, in a forest, in jail…staying in a proper house was the best thing he could come up with. Especially since her house had most of the things he needed—mana potions, decent supply of coffee, a comfy sofa…

The only thing missing out was money. He didn't expect it to appear on the table, magically, even if he wanted to. But then his brain recalled something said before their mission begun.

" _Should you accept this mission—"_

 _He deliberately paused for a second as he considered carefully what he was about to say next._

 _"I will free you from your life sentence, and grant you citizenship of Demacia."_

 _"Wait—citizenship of Demacia? Does that mean—"_

 _"Yes. You will be able to live in Demacia as long as you like, and we will treat you like a proper Demacian. Such as defending you from your enemies."_

Citizenship of Demacia! Now that was an offer that would distract him from money, one of the things he treasured very much since he was 18. He managed to decline any reward other than money for his heists, but Jarvan's was different. For many years he had lived an unstable life and had become the top "Wanted" figure in many nations. Should he choose to sneak into any public facility, he would risk exposing his identity—and escape barely using Destiny and Gate. Basically, he wasn't free to do what he wanted, a heavy price to pay for his multiple crime attempts. Sure, he had money, but he wasn't able to gamble with the best dealers when he was a wanted fugitive. He couldn't live like an ordinary citizen—and though that might not be necessarily a bad thing, sometimes it felt good to do the things he loved to, without restraint or fear of being interrupted. Citizenship of Demacia would imply that he could enjoy the facilities freely, including the big casinos. And of course, he would be able to live in an actual house. As to what kind of life he would live—

 _Ah, I haven't negotiated about the money part of this deal. Better do that after this. I might be able to earn a substantial gain from this, enough for me to bathe in the luxury pools every day._

"Wow, Vayne! That suit—never seen you wore that before. And Lucian, you're cool!"

Twisted fate looked up. Vayne and Lucian had emerged from the basement, and both had substantial changes—Lucian had his original two guns replaced by two larger, technologically advanced ones, with its nozzles bigger than the size of a typical hand.

Vayne, on the other hand, even changed her costume. Hers was blue in colour instead of black, and she had a helmet this time, resembling a dragon head. Her arm crossbow was fully loaded, while her quiver was loaded with silver bolts.

"I call this the Dragonslayer. Used it to slay a powerful dragon once in the lands of Vastaya. This armor is highly resistant to magic, which might help in our upcoming battle."

"Wow. Didn't know that you have alternate suits other than your usual one. Come here and sit down, we need to hold a short meeting before we head back to the mountains."

They nodded and took their seats. Kassadin and Ryze sat on their own armchairs opposite to each other, while Twisted fate and the Demacians sat on the sofa.

"Ok. Let me do the explaining."

There was a brief moment of silence as Kassadin took in a deep breath. There was quite the amount of explaining to do.

"I was born in Icathia. Yes, the lost city in the southwest part of Valoran. It was a great city before its inevitable destruction. I had extraordinary strength since young—it was a trait of me. No one knew why, and neither do I. On that dreadful day of destruction dark matter swooped through the whole town, consuming anyone in its path. I was lucky to escape, thankfully, together with a friend. We then worked as farmers, earning ourselves enough money for a living. That is until there came a rumor that there was a box of treasure in the abandoned remains of our home city. It was said to contain so much gold that it can rival Prince Jarvan's wealth."

"I wonder why that rumor did not reach my ears. That couldn't have gone unnoticed," said the gypsy.

"I was on my trail for treasure before you were even born, child."

"Oh. I see."

Agent 87's look did look quite old. Though he couldn't confirm that anymore since his face was currently behind a mask.

"Hmph. I bet that you failed, or else you wouldn't be here," remarked Jarvan.

"Partially true. I and my friend returned to the city, knowing full well the potential dangers and risks, but the reward was too good to pass up. A few men followed along, but before we could even cover half the distance there were only two of us left. It was when we entered the city did we realize that Void creatures were lurking in the city, ambushing those who trespass the wasteland. To our surprise, the chest truly existed, right in front of our eyes after weeks of struggle. We opened the chest, and it contained…something other than money. It was a sword—a purple sword. I drew the sword from the chest in curiosity—and boy, how much had changed after that."

"Immediately after I got the sword, there was this…overwhelmingly strong power which entered my body. My friend panicked, and then it was a blur—I forgot what exactly happened. I only knew that I was in the Void, seeing horrible creatures that exceed the imagination of mere mortals. The creatures of the Void—I bet none of you will want to cross paths with them in the future."

"Regardless, I wondered why I wasn't dead by then when the Overlord of the Void came to meet me. He told me that I was gifted with strength and durability by the Gods, and I was born to serve the Void. He let the essence of the Void enter my body and as a result, I was brainwashed to serve the Void. I was granted the sword, a Void stone and the ability to create portals at will, in exchange for my duties to be a spy of everything that happened on Runeterra. He called me the 'Void Walker'."

"My life kept on with this until one day I somehow, somehow, met my friend again. Yes, the friend who joined me on the trip for the treasure. The Void essence inside me prompted me to kill him, which I did, but upon his dying breath he told me that my human side was still there, somewhere in my heart, and he hoped that I would be free from this evil power. Maybe it was luck. Maybe it was the sight of my friend's death that knocked some sense into me. I realized I did have a human side, and my friend had helped me gain control of my possessed body. I buried him in a proper funeral and remembering well who I was, I effectively became a double agent—spying on Runeterra while simultaneously notifying the world of any scheme the Void was planning of."

"So that is why you are a double agent of Noxus as well. You played that role before."

"That is correct, Vayne. And to clarify myself," he continued, "I am still spying on the Void."

"Anyway, one day I was summoned by the Overlord, and I was to supervise the Noxian progress in the construction of the portal. By then did I discover the plot to create a portal which would connect the boundaries of the Void with Runeterra. Oh, and the Shadow Isles, but they were unaware of that. Anyway, my job is to infiltrate and supervise, so I joined the Noxian military with ease due to my strength. I left some of my powers and my suit in the Void Stone and locked it away in a secret location of Noxus so that I wouldn't look suspicious but at the same time can access to them in the case of emergency."

"Then there was this…Master of Death, who turned out to be an ally of the Overlord and had suggested the scheme to the Ruler of the Void. He developed a Rune-searching device, and I didn't know that the Void Stone was a Rune until Swain found it in my secret location. The Master of Death took notice and converted it into the Anti-teleportation Rune, probably because I left some teleportation powers in it. He left it on the highest floor of the building, and though I knew where it was, I couldn't take it simply because I could no longer hide it without keeping it out of my arm's reach."

"When you arrived, distraction was made and Swain even left the headquarters himself to confront Ryze. You know, he had never left to do the dirty work himself, so I figured out it would be a good time to retrieve the Void stone. Since my sword and the Void stone are sort of connected, I gave you two the sword so that it can destroy the portion created by the Master of Death."

"Can't believe that there was a double agent behind the scenes after all," remarked Jarvan. "I still dislike you, but I cannot deny that you did save us as well."

"Wait, have you seen the Master of Death in person? If you've seen that much of Noxus," questioned Ryze.

"Unfortunately, the one mystery I have yet to solve is his identity. Seriously, his activities are so secret that I believe only Swain has seen him in person. No one else did, I dare say."

"That is going to change though when we meet him in person ourselves," said the Card Master firmly. "I doubt he wouldn't be there when we are there to destroy the portal."

"Since when did the portal began its construction?" Jarvan raised the question that had been in the minds of Twisted fate and the Demacians for some time.

"The construction of the portal has lasted for…10 years. But I couldn't inform anyone because my powers were locked away in the Void stone. It was why I needed you to bring me the Rune—I need its powers in order to create the portal."

"Speaking of which, we should be heading there now," interrupted Ryze. Twisted fate noticed that his body was glowing in blue brighter than ever. "I have restored my mana and powers fully and it is imperative that we do not waste time. Kassadin, are you ready?"

"Yes. We shall leave immediately," replied the Void Walker. "I shall use my portal again."

Twisted fate froze. Re-entering the Void? The experience was anything but pleasant.

"Wait. How do we get in?" asked Lucian, packing his weapons. "My bet is that the headquarters will be much heavily guarded this time, so I doubt we can intrude simply from the outside."

"We can teleport in," said Twisted fate, "into a spot which they do not anticipate us, of course. When we reach the Ironspike mountains, I will spectate them with Destiny, then we will find a suitable spot to teleport in."

"But they might anticipate this as well. If the Noxians guard every single spot, then we will have no chance to—"

"They do not have enough soldiers, Lucian. I know the number of men they have, and even with their powerhouses they cannot keep everywhere guarded heavily."

"Noted. But what do we do when we get in?" asked Twisted fate.

"We destroy the portal as soon as possible. Though the Noxians wouldn't be spared, regardless of their involvement or not," suggested Jarvan. "I simply hate them to the core."

"I suggest ending things as soon as possible, for it is impossible to fight all of them at once. Swain himself is already a nuisance, who might be able to take on all of us. That leaves the other Noxians to strike us at will," explained Vayne.

"Leave the fighting to us. Trust me, I wasn't in my best condition when fighting Swain."

"Really Ryze? You almost got eaten alive!" exclaimed Lucian.

"I did not use even 10% of my full magical capabilities," stressed Ryze.

"I see. In that case, I cannot imagine how strong you can be."

"One of the greatest mages, remember?" Ryze grinned. "I will show Swain who is the real boss here."

"How do we destroy the portal? Kassadin, you know something about the portal, don't you?" questioned Jarvan.

"I do. The portal is designed to resemble a gate. It is powered by an arch, made of an indestructible type of gold and five Runes. The gold and the Runes will take too much time to destroy, but we can disrupt the power source by forcibly removing the Runes from its initial position."

All of them nodded, knowing well what to do.

"In that case, we shall leave as soon as possible. Let us leave this place."

Twisted fate took the last sip of coffee before he stood up.

"Heavy drinker, huh? You drank eight cups in a row. I was watching you," remarked Jarvan.

"My practice is to drink a ton of coffee before a major event," replied the gypsy.

Vayne opened the door and stepped into the outdoors, with the others following behind.

"Wait here as I create the portal," ordered Kassadin, who then left with Ryze.

Twisted fate noticed that the Demacians had stopped mid-way as Ryze and Kassadin set off into the forest. Jarvan folded his arms around Vayne and Lucian, who were conveniently by his side.

"Where's Twisted fate?" asked Jarvan. "Oh, he's behind us. Come here, you're one of us. Don't be shy."

Twisted fate gave him a puzzled look, but regardless he quickened his steps and reached the three.

"This will be the most catastrophic and dangerous mission we will participate in our lives, and possibly the only one. Even I am feeling a bit nervous—how about you?" whispered Jarvan, but not soft enough to escape from the gypsy's ears.

"We have to do this no matter what. The world is at stake, and only we can save it," said Vayne, who appeared to be cool about the whole event. "Besides, I've been close to death for so many occasions—this one is no different."

"It is different. The risks when you hunt alone is low—only your life is gone. But this…if you fail, the world will end. Such high stakes—and you're still acting cool. My hands are already shaking, and I can feel your pulse speed quicken."

"I bet everyone here is nervous. May Destiny and Lady Luck save us all." Twisted fate drew his Card of Destiny and stared at it.

"You know, before I met you I thought Destiny is a piece of bull****," admitted Jarvan. "My father taught me that Destiny was ours to change, not by Fate itself. But recent events show that sometimes there are things we cannot control. We still owe you our lives back in the sewers."

"Hey, it's not the time for rejoice now. We have a mission, and we need to finish it. This will be the ultimate battle," reminded Lucian.

"You're right. Well, good luck to all of us," sighed Jarvan. "Hopefully none of us will die."

"Hopefully," repeated Lucian. "Hopefully."

They heard a sound—the sound of the activation of Kassadin's portal. In front of their eyes was the purple portal they had used to escape. Kassadin and Ryze stood beside the portal. The portal also illuminated the forest with its glow.

"You might be mortals that do not have magical powers like us, but you do have some uniqueness. Together we must end this threat tonight—no matter the cost. You have done a spectacular job—recruiting me and Ryze unconsciously. But now we must now fight the inevitable. Prepare yourselves, take a deep breath and leap into the portal."

Twisted fate did not expect himself to go this far. He was once a gypsy living in a small village—insignificant to the world. Then he acquired his powers—became a criminal. Then he met Vayne, who led him into this scandal. And now he was the key to saving the world.

He wasn't sure what lied in store for him if he chose this path, but there was no choice. Though the rewards would be great if he did succeed, and he did want to uncover the identity of the Master of Death—a person he would meet very soon. He hated secrets and mysteries, and he would rather find out his identity before death than to do nothing.

He was so deep in his own thoughts that he did not realize until later that he was the only person left standing in front of the portal—everyone else was gone.

 _Damn. My daydreaming skills are still top-tier._

Twisted fate stared into the Card of Destiny once again. The orange eyeball on it glowed brightly like a star as if it was encouraging him to do what it needed to be done. He smirked, knowing well that there was **a high chance** that Fate would still be on his side.

"Good luck to myself," he told himself as he set foot into the portal.

* * *

 **Author's note:**

 **Almost every mystery left in this story has been solved by now. Yep, Kassadin's behind the scenes for some time before the death of Jarvan the Fourth. (Though you might not have expected him. He seems unrelated to the story, after all.) I did hint him, in a sense. The bare chest, brown garment costume of his is actually a representation of Pre-Void Kassadin (a skin of his).**

 **Now we await the final chapter (Chapter 30) that will put an end to this series and answer most questions you have in your mind right now. Including this chapter, this story has already surpassed 150,000 words, so I figured out it'll be wise to end (a never-ending story isn't that exciting, is it?)**

 **Be ready for the last chapter (story-wise) that will reveal the ultimate puppetmaster behind all of this mess.**


	31. Finale (part 1)

**Author's note:**

 **This is it...it is nearly the end of the story. T** **his would be the most exciting part of the story—the climax. I had to say, I have never expected this story to be this long. You see, I originally planned this story for roughly 80,000 words…then I realized each chapter is actually longer than expected and went for roughly 100,000 words…then I realized that 20 chapters are insufficient for the all-roundedness of the story. So length-wise this story has actually exceeded expectations.**

 **Anyway, my thoughts on this story will be further explained in the next chapter. For now, your biggest concern for this story will be: Who is this "Master of Death"? Yes, indeed the "who" is more important. He has been teased at the end of Chapter 9 and has been a major unsolved mystery for the following 20 chapters.**

 **While I certainly cannot disclose his identity now (or else I would have just put his name in the summary of the story, duh), I can tell you those who certainly WILL NOT be this mysterious person.**

 **1\. Any Shadow Isles champion**

 **Since the Demon's portal is able to summon interdimensional entities, one might think that warlords in those dimensions would benefit. Unfortunately, they do not simply work with mortals in Runeterra, no matter how evil they are. (This one is cooperating with Swain at the moment.) Those in such twisted dimensions only work for themselves and would kill anyone at sight—even those who don't intend to do harm.**

 **2\. Nocturne**

 **An interesting guess, though his interests are not to conquer Runeterra. He's more like a nightmarish demon who enjoys plaguing the minds of men instead of ruling them.**

 **3\. Swain**

 **Unfortunately, Swain's not the big bad here. (Though a close second.)**

 **4\. The Overlord of the Void**

 **The name seems badass, but no, thou shall not make an appearance in this story. (Or will he?) Also, the Overlord and the Master of Death are two separate entities.**

 **5\. Jarvan III**

 **Sometimes people get desperate and say, "whoever's the most unsuspicious is the true villain." Might work on rare occasions, but those who fall into this category have perfectly reasonable explanations. But the deceased King of Demacia? Of course not! He's dead at the beginning, and it's quite difficult to resurrect someone from death (this is neither DC nor Marvel). But is he completely out of the picture? Hmph…**

 **Basically, the "Master of Death" has not directly appeared in the story. And yes, it would be a different villain, one that has not been used as a conventional villain in most stories I read. Alas, as I said earlier, the lore here is subject to change. But it'll be reasonable at the end, I assure you. He is related to one of our protagonists, after all.**

 **How am I supposed to guess his identity then, beforehand, you may ask. That depends on how much you know about the League's lore itself. And how you define the name "Master of Death".**

 **Nonetheless, without further ado let us read on, and you'll see.**

* * *

Twisted fate gazed at the night view, standing on the summit of a mountain.

Visibility was close to zero in such a dark sky, but the Noxian base still glowed like a star in this remote tundra. It was the only thing that could be seen. One could only know the sheer size of the headquarters only when they observe it hundreds of meters above. The area of the building was comparable to at least 10 football pitches.

 _Soon I shall find out who this "Master of Death" is._

He took one last glance at the structure before walking back to his team.

Ryze created a blue portal beneath his feet, motioning the others to stand in.

"We're going in now. We should arrive directly at the portal room—it means we will be in combat as soon as we land," he warned. "Be on your guard at all times. Once we're done with the Noxians, we must disable the portal. Oh wait, I haven't asked—how do we disable the portal?"

"Unfortunately, the material that the portal was built of is quite indestructible—even more than the Rune itself. The only way as I see it…is to remove the Runes from the portal since they are supposed to supply the portal with energy."

"Ok then. We must leave now because time does not wait. Are you guys ready?" asked Jarvan, perceiving himself as the leader of the group.

Twisted fate drew a stack of cards. Vayne loaded her crossbow. Lucian readied his guns. Jarvan gripped his lance and shield. Ryze channeled a purely magical missile and Kassadin wielded his Nether blade, the name of the purple sword.

"Ready?" asked Jarvan. The others nodded in response.

Once the portal was gone the team had disappeared without a trace, leaving the summit desolate and empty once again as it had for decades.

* * *

The atmosphere in the Noxian headquarters was extremely tense.

The giant base was able to shine like the moon under the midnight sky, thanks to the countless Hextech lights fixed on the exterior walls.

Standing outside the huge walls of the headquarters were hundreds and thousands of soldiers, all of them fully armed. They had surrounded the building completely, denying any chance for anyone to sneak in unnoticed. Dozens of military trucks served as back-up for them as well, providing the firepower needed to extinguish an army with ease.

It wasn't entirely unguarded inside the building, however. In fact, every single room in the building was occupied by a number of men, and the high-ranking officials, assassins, and Generals were indoors as well. Swain had ordered such since he anticipated the Demacians to attempt an invade by teleporting in instead of breaking in from the main gate.

Most of the men had their shoulders tensed, for they expected an attack soon and had no intention of being taken by surprise. They stood at their positions, only moving occasionally and never letting their guard down. The only men who were working and not standing still were those involved in the construction of the portal, who worked in the massive room where the golden arch resided. Swain stood in front of the portal watching the progress of the men, while Draven, Talon, and Katarina stood aside with the sole task of being Swain's personal bodyguards.

The door opened. Darius stepped into the massive room, his eyes fixed on the Demon's portal as he approached the Noxian General.

"Speed up, comrades! Once the portal is activated, Noxus will retain its glory! All of you will be rewarded, heavily, for your achievements!" encouraged Swain, who had reverted to his human form.

"Grand General, the portal is 10 minutes away from completion," reported one of the construction workers."

"Good." Swain nodded. "Then the only part missing will be the final Rune. The Master of Death will soon arrive here, and he will deliver to me the last Rune needed to activate the portal."

"The security procedures have been completed," reported Darius, with his monotone voice. "All rooms have been guarded, and the Control room has extra manpower as you requested, Jericho."

Among all Noxians, only Darius had the authority to call Swain by his real name. And for a good reason.

"Jericho, you do realize that we have never seen this 'Master of Death' before," reminded Darius, who stood behind Swain and had his arms crossed. He was wearing the very armor suit used to battle the gypsy and the Demacians back in the College of Techmaturgy, albeit much more polished and reinforced.

"Oh yes. Don't worry, I shall introduce him to you very soon when he arrives here. I will make him disclose his true identity if he wants to fulfill the deal he made with me."

"That deal? You're not really going to honor that deal, are you?" questioned Darius, who remembered well what Swain had done in the past, unbeknownst to most of the Noxians or even certain high-ranking officials.

"I have, indeed, not kept several of my promises in the past. And yes, I do not like having peers who share the same amount of power as I do. But this Master of Death…his powers are something I have far underestimated. As I always say, Noxus can make enemies—but why make enemies when they can be your allies? Until I find a weakness of his I shall cooperate with him, for it makes my ambitions much easier to achieve."

"That is wise of you, General," replied Darius, nodding his head in agreement.

"Just keep this portal secure for the next 10 minutes, and no one will be able to stop us."

The Noxians were certain that they had every square inch of the base covered. Nothing would bypass their supervision, it seemed.

"By the way, where do you think they will arrive from, Darius?"

"I believe it is very likely that they would teleport in here, possibly to one of the unguarded spots. Though I believe nowhere in this building can be infiltrated."

"Excellent. There is one thing I am sure of, however—I believe they do have a little of their brains left in them, so surely they wouldn't attack by teleporting into the lion's den—"

A blue portal materialized on the ground, at the corner of the room where no soldier stood nearby. At once it was noticed by nearby men and in seconds the soldiers entered their battle stances, pointing their swords and bows at the unknown portal.

"Speaking of the devil," said Swain with a big smirk on his face. "I couldn't believe they had **that** little of their brains left."

Six figures gradually materialized on the portal. Twisted fate and Jarvan instantly recognized the room—the exceptionally high ceiling with dazzling lights. Standing in the middle was the Demon's portal itself, a majestic, hemispherical golden arch resembling a gate, symmetrical in shape, with five identical hollow circles on it—well, not hollow anymore as four Runes—a white one, a blue one, a violet one and a black one, had been fixed in position in the circles. Notably, one circle remained hollow. There were long ladders with men standing on it, working on the final stage of construction for the portal.

Standing beneath the massive structure were the Noxian soldiers, along with the more famous Noxian figures. All of them had their sights on the group that intruded without warning. The soldiers raised their weapons and pointed them in unison against the newcomers. The men who worked on the portal started descending the stairs they're standing on, keen to leave the scene as soon as possible.

It wasn't difficult to spot their leader as the bald man with the scepter emerged from the crowd, albeit slowly. Beatrice stood on his shoulder as usual. Everyone fell silent when he struck the floor with his scepter, loud enough for the entire room to hear.

"I was half-expecting you to return," began Swain, who spoke in a menacing tone. "But I have no idea that you will be this idiotic. It's clear that you cannot face all of us!"

"Call it off, Jericho!" demanded Jarvan. "Not only will you bring hell to this world, but to yourselves as well! No one can control creatures in those hellish dimensions! What you're doing will only bring destruction upon all of us! No one will benefit!"

"That is wrong, Prince. Only you and your idiotic team think that they cannot be controlled. They can—I've tried before, using the power and strength of the Runes—and no matter the number I can also extinguish them easily as I summon them. They cannot stand the atmosphere and the Sun in Valoran, so I use several Runes to grant them immunity to these threats. But once I'm done, all I have to do is to shut the Runes down—and they will dissolve almost immediately, no matter how durable they are."

"Cruel as always. You never stay loyal to anyone. I wonder how do you still have so many followers behind you?" questioned Jarvan.

"I'm sure you know the answer well, Prince Jarvan. Our political system is just superior compared to yours. In our nation, whoever contributes deserves a fair reward. Everyone is equal, and as long as they work for the nation, they enjoy the riches of it. No one would complain how society is unfair, unlike in Demacia, right? People in the lower classes never get to live a decent life, not because of their inability, but because society ignores these minorities. So much for your Democratic country, Jarvan the Fourth! That is why your men are so easy to bribe, so easy to corrupt! Meanwhile, my people know what true loyalty is. They will do anything for the sake of Noxus because they are proud of their nation. This is why we will soon defeat Demacia and its cowards! Hail Noxus!"

The whole room was in an uproar as the Noxian soldiers cheered and chanted the words "Hail Noxus" repeatedly. Jarvan himself was caught off guard by his nemesis's reply and glanced back at the group who was as puzzled as he was.

"Enough!" shouted Kassadin, who tried to control the situation. The soldiers initially ignored him, but soon after that, the room fell into silence once again.

"I do not care about your so-called systems, but building the Demon's portal to wipe out your enemies will be the one mistake that will cost you. You have no idea how bloodthirsty those creatures are—they will kill at sight, even you!"

"Oh, why are you so concerned about our safety, huh?" mocked Swain.

"That is because we do not want to pick up a fight with you. But if you wish to do so…I will gladly deliver. I may be your former servant…but I can fight someone your size and strength."

"I doubt that. Even Ryze cannot fight me, and he's the best one in your team. What chance do the others have, huh?"

"You don't seem to register how strong I am this time," Ryze countered. "I am not the person you have fought an hour ago."

"And me. Don't forget me."

Swain watched as Twisted fate departed from his team and stepped into the spotlight as all of the Noxians switched their attention to the gypsy.

"You've been trying your best to ignore me, I know," he yelled at the top of his voice. Strangely it was completely silent and his voice echoed all over the place. "But I did save Prince Jarvan from imprisonment, just when you think you have the Demacian poster boy captured."

"I thought you were insignificant," said Swain coldly. "Until you proved that you are as capable as those filthy Demacians in terms of disruption. You deserve the same punishment as those Demacians. You meddle in our affairs, and I shall personally ensure that you will suffer after all of this."

"Geez. I will see how you'd do that to me…in your grave," the gypsy mocked.

In response Swain began his transformation, swiftly turning into his demonic raven form as everyone else watched. Those who had yet to witness it had a sudden urge to puke, while those who had witnessed it before still found it disturbing.

"You've come here to die. Fine. I shall grant you your wish before I unleash hell on this world," boomed Swain, whose size and voice had increased ten-fold.

"I shall fight you to the death!" announced Kassadin, who made his way to the front of the team as well, standing beside Twisted fate. "The balance of power must be preserved!"

In a blink of an eye, Kassadin disappeared. It was brief, however, as the Void Walker himself practically reappeared several meters away. Then he disappeared again, then reappeared in another spot, closing the distance between himself and Swain. To the others, it might seem the work of unknown magic, but Kassadin knew it was just another form of teleportation at work—though the distance it covered was much shorter, it was instant and could be used again almost instantaneously. It was a part of Kassadin's abilities, and he liked to call this trick "blinking"—since you can travel to a nearby location in a blink of an eye.

Before Swain could register how Kassadin accomplished that the Void Walker was already standing in front of him. In front of his feathers, to be exact. The man then drew his Nether Blade and without hesitation plunged it into the lower, feathery body of Swain's.

The effect it had on the Noxian was evident as he scoffed at Kassadin's attack.

"You don't even hit the right spot!" laughed Swain. "That didn't even tickle!"

Kassadin looked up. Swain's looming figure was intimidating, his head several meters above him, glaring down as a giant does.

"Really?" The Void walker then pulled out his blade. The spot where Kassadin had stabbed had no sign of injury other than some missing feathers, which laid on the ground. Surely the loss of a few feathers could not even be considered a scratch.

"I do believe you have a weakness," said Kassadin. "A weakness waiting to be exploited. And I shall find it relentlessly, no matter how long, until I strike the very spot where you will succumb."

With that, he disappeared yet again. Swain growled, but then realized that someone was clenching his back tightly.

"How about this spot?"

Another stab from the Nether Blade—this time at Swain's back. In addition, the Nether Blade was extended by a few feet, turning from a blade into essentially a spear. Kassadin knew that Swain's lower body would be immune to most wounds, but the analogy still holds—a typical human can take many wounds in the stomach, but one in the neck or the head would be a mortal wound—leading to severe injuries or most likely, death. Since Swain was still more or less a human being, his weaknesses should hold true.

The Noxian leader couldn't hide his agony as Kassadin planted the blade deeper on his back. Unfortunately for him, Kassadin had struck the right spot.

Twisted fate had never heard the Devil Himself scream before, but if he was to envision the voice then Swain's resulting screeches would be quite close to it. The voice was raven-like, piercing, and very, very loud. The others, including the Noxians, were so disordered by the sound that they failed to hear Swain's infuriated cry, "Kill him, ravens! Tear him to shreds!"

At that particular moment, nearly all of Swain's feathers underwent a mutation, turning from lifeless objects into living ravens the size of Beatrice. Thousands of them flocked towards an unsuspecting Kassadin, who witnessed the whole scene in utter shock. Despite that, Kassadin still managed to vanish from thin air, causing the birds to crash into each other. Moments later, he materialized meters away from the Grand General, analyzing the situation.

Somehow Swain managed to regrow his feathers after creating a gigantic flock of destructive birds. Had it been told to the Void Walker, he wouldn't have believed it—but he currently couldn't deny what he saw with his own eyes.

 _Individuals paired with Runes are a terrifying combination. Especially when it comes to power-hungry dictators like Swain._

Swain's crimson eyes swept around the room, tracing for the Void walker's purple body. Once the target was found his eyes locked onto his opponent, once again pointing at Kassadin as a signal for the rest of his ravens.

"Attack him! Kill him! Tear him to shreds— AARGGH!"

Dozens of cards were at his back, at the very spot where Kassadin had plunged his sword into. These cards glowed in blue significantly, an obvious sign that Twisted fate had drunk the Elixir of Sorcery—an advanced potion which provides additional ability power and mana regeneration. With this potion he could slice through tough tree barks with a single card—typically he could cut down trees, but it would take too many cards.

Imagine a force able to slice a tree into half. Now imagine if the card, with such force, slashed into Swain's back directly. And not just one card, but dozens. Undoubtedly, it would be unimaginably painful.

Swain, this time, did not scream. Maybe the pain was too much for even him to endure. Maybe the cards were painless. No one knew. But it was evident that Swain was not happy about it.

Ryze and Twisted fate proceeded to attack Swain, just as what they had discussed beforehand—the three mages would be the ones to take down the Noxian Grand General. Meanwhile, the Demacians fixed their eyes on the infamous Du Couteau assassins and the Blood Brothers.

"I'd never thought I'd have this much luck today. To personally slaughter the top Demacian dogs." Katarina flung her blades into the air, spinning them like toys.

"You're only exceptional in assassinations. When you're out of the darkness you lose your only advantage," said Lucian. "Which is exactly the situation you're in now."

"Environment does not matter. What matters is that Draven will land all his axes on your asses," boomed the executioner. "If you choose to flee, that is."

"We won't flee from battle!" said Jarvan. "There is only one outcome in this fight—justice will always prevail! Forward, my fellow Demacians! This war is for our proud nation! For Runeterra!"

Moments later, the two opposing sides engaged on one another, exchanging blows with the sole intention of killing their enemies.

* * *

"You…annoying little child! You're getting on my nerves, Twisted fate, and I will exterminate you first if that is your wish!" the Noxian growled.

Twisted fate simply smirked. He began sprinting as he continued launching his array of cards at Swain, landing at random spots on Swain's humungous body. They all plunged deep into his skin, some of his feathers stained with crimson blood.

Swain's anger was fully exposed as he stretched his massive wings and flew into the air, casting a giant shadow on Twisted fate, who was running. Seconds later, Swain would descend on Twisted fate, crushing the gypsy with its sheer weight. It would be impossible for him to run away from the Noxian's huge wingspan.

Thankfully Ryze was at the scene, summoning an airborne wall which rivalled Swain's size. He was too fast to steer away in time and as a result, his bulky body crashed onto the barrier, head first. Without the momentum the giant raven descended to the floor, landing with a "boom" and shaking the entire portal room rather violently.

Twisted fate tried to regain his balance from the "earthquake" that ensued. He noticed that the Noxian soldiers advanced towards them, seeking to avenge the leader. The looks of vengeance on their faces were too evident.

Kassadin emerged from the other side of the room, having escaped from the flock of ravens who had disappeared without a trace. Quickly he returned to Twisted fate and together they approached Swain's body with caution. The big raven appeared motionless and soundless.

 _Perhaps he had passed out,_ the gypsy thought. _That impact on his head must be rather consequential to him._

"The three of you! You will pay for what you did to our leader!" one of the men shouted. "Noxians, attack—"

"That—is—ENOUGH!"

The whole room was shocked at the foreign voice. The Noxians dared not move a step, while Twisted fate, Ryze, and Kassadin laid their eyes on Swain.

The Noxian General slowly rose from the ground with the help of his talons. As Twisted fate took a closer look at him he realized how deeply wrong he was to underestimate the Noxian.

 _Oh, god._

Swain's raven form was demonic enough, but his current form was worse—far worse. He had essentially morphed into a storm, countless birds circling around him. The birds gathered above Swain's head, merging to resemble dark clouds. Every single raven seemed to be screeching with a dry mouth, which made their voices unbearable to hear.

Not only did Swain end up unscathed, he came back in the worst way possible.

"Ugh…I will tolerate this no more! You will die—all of you!" the battered Noxian growled.

"He has never evolved into this form before," exclaimed Kassadin. "I do not know what he is capable of…"

"ATTACK!"

Swain's command ran through the entire room. The dark clouds which comprised thousands of birds instantly dashed towards the three of them like a horde of bees. The ravens were packed up so densely that Twisted fate could not see anything through the birds. Beatrice led the charge, its crimson eyes mirroring its master. In fact, Beatrice itself was the miniature version of Swain.

"Holy ****!" No other words came out from the gypsy's mouth—no other words could express his shock at the nightmarish sight.

"Shields!" A calmer Ryze and Kassadin knew exactly what to do. The two of them summoned their magic shields respectively, overlapping on each other. Blue and purple merged as the shields became a protective dome, surrounding the trio.

As soon as the dome was formed they were already surrounded by the ravens, who had cruelly decided to blot out the light completely for them. Twisted fate could see nothing but hundreds of crimson eyes as the ravens' beaks pecked the shield, seeking to tear it open. The gypsy could see the monster birds up close—their disgusting looks and movement compelled him to turn away and stare at the floor instead.

Ryze and Kassadin were trying very hard—very hard indeed, draining their mana in huge amounts. It was too obvious, for even the purple-coloured Nether Blade had traces of mana on it. There was no significant change on Ryze, however, because…he's blue as always.

Despite their efforts, cracks began to surface on the shield. The ravens' constant rapping proved to be effective.

"The shield can't much longer!" said Ryze, clenching his teeth. "This Swain…where did he get all this power from?"

Kassadin was clearly struggling as well. "The Rune in his scepter must be no ordinary Rune. Never has he unleashed his full strength until this moment."

There were no taunts from Swain, though the gypsy presumed that the flock of ravens were too dense to allow any noise or light to pass through. That did not matter—in a minute Swain would be on the verge of killing the three of them.

Twisted fate watched at the shield in desperation, hoping that the cracks would fade…that a miracle would happen out of nowhere, killing the ravens and saving them…

Not going to happen.

For all this time he could feel how ineffective he was in combat. Most of the work was done by the others, and he was simply there to clean up. The gypsy hated to admit but felt that he probably was a liability for his team.

Now that the powerful mages were struggling for their survival, what could he do? Stand idly? Give up? Or…do something?

 _Opportunities are to be created, not waited._

This quote came from somewhere deep in his memory. Long buried, to be exact…but it surfaced at the right time.

 _Well then…I shall create the opportunity._

The Card Master sprang into action. Drawing his Card of Destiny, he decided to teleport to a spot behind Swain. The cards circled around his body as he began his teleportation.

"Where are you going?" asked Ryze, puzzled.

"Saving ourselves." A simple yet unexpected reply.

In a second the gypsy saw the lights once again, delighted to see the giant Raven ahead of him. Swain did not suspect a thing.

"The shield will break. Leave no corpses, birds! They will die! All of them!"

Twisted fate drew a deck of blue cards—the heavy-hitters. He knew no one could warn Swain from an attack since all of his birds were focused solely on the dome, leaving him vulnerable from behind. Having seen the effect of hurting his neck, the Card Master aimed them at Swain's weak point, launching them without hesitation.

Once again the cards pierced deep into his neck. This time it was more painful than usual—perhaps it was due to Twisted fate concentrating his cards on Swain's fragile neck instead of his relatively durable body. Swain cried in pain as a raven would, albeit louder.

But the ravens had not ceased their attack on the dome yet.

 _Strange…the birds should return to protect their master if he was hurt…maybe because his wounds aren't significant enough._

A question surfaced: how could the gypsy make his cards hurt?

Suddenly a devilish thought came to the gypsy's head. He had once thought of using his cards in this way but deemed it too bloody and savage. This situation, however, called for this method.

The Card Master took control of the cards on Swain's neck, which were a few inches deep into his skin. With his enhanced magic, he commanded the cards to spin relentlessly, turning them from simple play-cards into spinning death-blades. The edges of the cards slashed through the flesh in the giant raven's neck, threatening to cut off his thick head from his body. Needless to say, this act inflicted immense pain on Swain, who cried in agony and in an unprecedented way. The ravens were alerted to their master's pain, thus ceasing their attack on the dome and instead glared at the person who had made Swain suffer.

Swain himself glared at the gypsy with his furious, crimson eyes.

"Are you seeking death, Twisted fate? Because you seem to look forward to it. I do not know how you got out of that dome…but you will deeply regret what you have done!"

In an instant, Swain screeched in the sound of a raven, and the birds flew away from Ryze and Kassadin, re-identifying their target as the Card Master. Upon seeing this Twisted fate heaved a sigh of relief, noticing that the shield barely withstood the assault. The two mages inside were baffled of why the birds decided to abandon them when the shield was a few strikes away from being torn open.

 _At least I distracted the birds for Ryze and Kassadin._

But in turn, he would be facing the full wrath of Swain himself. And the risk was high. Extremely high.

 _Damn…what should I do._

The Card Master drew another two decks of cards as the flock of ravens dived towards them like missiles. One raven could practically scare him to death—let alone a huge squad of them. But he could not afford to be scared this time, for any hesitation would result in death.

 _Concentrate, Tobias. You can do this, no matter how impossible it seems. Wish me luck._

Twisted fate launched his cards, tossing a dozen of them at a time like a madman. Conveniently, all of them were red cards, and it proved to be an excellent tool in slaughtering groups of ravens due to its explosive nature. The cards detonated upon impact of its target, engulfing birds within its radius with pure, destructive magic. Strangely, these birds did not leave behind anything upon death—they simply became puffs of smoke and disappeared.

The dark cloud was gradually reduced to half, then to a quarter. When the last bird was eliminated by a card to its neck, the gypsy was surprised—surprised that the hundreds of birds had all died in only a matter of seconds.

 _And one-hundred and four cards,_ he thought.

At this point, he predicted that Swain would be more infuriated than ever. He was wrong—Swain had an evil grin on his beak. The Noxian General pointed his scepter at him as the green Rune weapon charged in ancient yet destructive energy.

"You're cornered, Twisted fate." Swain had one of the nastiest grins on his face, combined with his toothed beak. "You have just used your teleport spell, so you can't run. You're dead meat, just like those proud mages—"

"That ain't happening, Swain. Don't bet on it."

Swain's attention quickly returned to Ryze and Kassadin, who were undisturbed since the ravens left them. A ball of energy was within Ryze's hands, developing swiftly to transform into a deadly weapon.

A Runic laser.

"You're completely distracted and defenseless. What a convenience for me."

Twisted fate could see the horror in Swain's crimson eyes as he watched the laser in Ryze's hands headed straight for him in a perfectly straight line. The laser collided on Swain's chest, changed its direction to skyward with a perfect 90-degree angle turn, and blasted him through the ceiling. The three of them laid their eyes on the large hole above that Swain had busted through. They had to walk over the room for the right angle to look in, and they could see a white sphere through the hole—a full moon.

Twisted fate could not believe his eyes. He was sure that Swain was at least as heavy as the combined weight of several gargantuan boulders, and yet the laser still managed to shoot him into the sky effortlessly, as if he had no weight at all. Frankly, he found the situation rather hilarious, so he tried his best to stifle a laugh.

"Unbelievable. This room we're in is at the very bottom of the building—the ground floor. My calculations tell me this building is at least 200 meters tall, so if we can see the night sky from here…I wouldn't imagine how powerful Ryze's laser was."

"As I said, I warned him beforehand not to take me lightly. And look where he ended now?" chuckled Ryze, blowing the magical dust off his hand. "He'd never imagine himself being thrown away like an ant."

"So…is he dead now?" asked the gypsy. He was stunned by the magic laser's capabilities, but he also knew Swain's capabilities. He had previously survived so many of their attacks head-on, and he wasn't sure what could actually kill him.

"Perhaps we should look for his corpse if he's dead," offered Kassadin. "If he's not, then I presume he should be weak enough for us to deliver the final blow. If we find him unscathed, however…"

"Whatever the situation, I am absolutely sure that he won't be coming back for some time," said Ryze. "Now that he's gone, we should deactivate the portal so that this worldwide threat will end. Once it's done we can do anything we like."

Twisted fate nodded in agreement. At last, with the bird freak gone, he could shut down the portal—the only concern in his mind for all this time. He fantasized the events that would happen next—he would return to Demacia as a savior, receive a ton of rewards, spend his entire lifetime in Demacia like a king…

 _It's all over. Phew._

"I had to admit that was a remarkable act you pulled off, Twisted fate. Had you not interrupted Swain we would all have been dead and with your distraction, I was able to formulate a powerful laser to finish him off once and for all," praised Ryze.

Twisted fate did not take much notice of that, however, still immersed in his luxurious dreams. Unbeknownst to himself, he was drooling like an idiot.

"Guys—who's that person standing in front of the portal?"

Twisted fate popped out from his fantasy and looked around. _What person?_

The soldiers in the room had mysteriously disappeared, supposedly leaving the three of them in the room. But this time there was a thin figure standing in front of the Demon's portal, holding a scepter in his right hand while channeling magic into the newly-placed Green Rune with his left hand. The figure wore a simple black cloak, covering his body features. He had his back turned as well.

The three exchanged glances with each other. Not only did this mysterious person show up unannounced whilst seemingly ignoring them, but he had filled up the missing Rune in the Demon's portal, thus completing it. In other words, the portal would be fully functional once it was activated manually.

And God knew what would happen if it was activated.

Kassadin fired an orb at the figure in an attempt to disable the person. Unfortunately for him, the orb was shattered halfway through the air by a projectile, which Kassadin saw was from the very scepter the figure was holding.

Ryze took a good look of the scepter and dropped his jaw.

The top of the staff resembled a human skull, while inside the skull was a glowing, spherical orb, cyan-coloured with a white core. It wasn't the appearance that surprised Ryze though—it was the identity of the scepter.

"Isn't...isn't that scepter...the Deathfire Grasp?" muttered Ryze, pointing at the scepter.

"Indeed it is, my friend," came the reply. It was a deep, brisk voice that was unusually articulate, formal like a king but mildly intimidating. Twisted fate had never heard of a voice remotely close to it.

"It's presumed to be a lost artifact. You must have found it...or you were the reason it went missing."

"I neither stole it nor steal it. It was someone else who removed it from its rightful place in the Shadow Isles. I just happened to track down the culprit and asked him to turn over the artifact."

Kassadin tightened his grip on his blade. The figure seemed absolutely carefree of the legendary artifact floating beside him. Either he had no idea how destructive the scepter can be, or he wielded powers so strong that he could control it with ease.

"You do know how deadly the Deathfire Grasp can be, don't you?"

"One zap from it can destroy a mortal, or basically any object. I once pointed it at a ship, and it exploded and dissolved into flames before the ship's crew could react. Swain did not call me the Master of Death for no reason—I lived up to this name perfectly."

 _So this is why he got this name. He could kill anyone by will._

The person had yet to turn his back, still channeling magic into the newly-placed Green Rune.

"You might be protected by magic, Ryze and Kassadin, but the man standing beside you is far more vulnerable."

Twisted fate gulped. He was right.

"Why don't you kill me then, straight away?" he managed to ask.

They heard a chuckle from the figure.

"You and I had history, old friend. I do not want to end you until I explained to you everything—how all of this happened. After all, you do want to know who I am, don't you, Tobias?"

The very mention of the gypsy's true name made Twisted fate practically drop his jaw to the floor. How did he know? Not many people know his true name—in fact, other than his parents, the people in his gypsy tribe, and Graves, no one else should be aware of his true identity.

 _Unless…_

"You weren't lying when you mentioned yourself being 'the world's luckiest person' back then. Not only did you accidentally steal my powers for yourself, enabling you access to the Dimension of Teleportation, but you also learnt how to use it immediately, vanishing into thin air from our very eyes. Until now I am still puzzled of how you managed to pull off such a daring act, but since then you have become the one and only human I am interested in. For eternity."

Long-forgotten memories began to surface on the gypsy's head.

 _Could it…could it be…_

"Now that I have another Rune of Teleportation, I no longer desire the one that you had stolen from me, Twisted fate. But you did delay my grand plan for at least 10 years, for I had to search for a new one, and it certainly wasn't easy. There aren't many of these Runes left in Runeterra."

For once, the true identity of the Master of Death was no longer an unsolved mystery.

"You have taken down the Grand General himself," the figure said. "It's time to meet the one who has orchestrated this master scheme. And since you fail to recognize me with my cloak on, perhaps there is the need to reveal my face if there is any hope of you remembering me."

The Master of Death placed his hand on his hood and pulled it down, exposing his face. It was a man's face, rather old and wrinkled like a piece of severely dried land. His white hair and grey beard were unusually thick for a man his age, though it did not cover the cunning smirk beneath it. Somehow his eyes did not fit him—they did not falter like those of old men.

He looked like a wise man, by appearance.

"You're a man. You're not a supernatural being," said Kassadin, unimpressed.

"Man is the most capable of destruction," said the Master of Death, his crafty, crimson eyes flickering. "Though I am not as simple as you think. Do you recognize me now, Tobias?"

"How could he—"

Ryze and Kassadin could not recognize the Master of Death's mortal face, but to their surprise Twisted fate's face and skin were extraordinarily pale, standing still like a statue. The gold card he held in his hand dropped to the floor, released from his loosening grip.

"Who is he? Do you know him, Twisted fate?" asked Ryze.

Despite the shock, the gypsy barely managed to nod, agreeing with what Ryze had said.

"Tell them my name, Twisted fate," said the unmasked Master of Death. "They deserve to know."

Ryze and Kassadin stared at the gypsy with puzzled looks. Twisted fate was shaking, but from his lips came out the words:

"He is Dr. Xavier Rath. The creator of my magical powers."

* * *

The revelation of the Master of Death's true face took Twisted fate completely off guard. He wouldn't expect his long-time nemesis to be the one behind this plot after all—for in his memory Dr. Rath wasn't able to match Swain in terms of strength. But indeed, he was the very person who orchestrated the entire plot, and was allegedly respected by even the Grand General himself.

Ryze and Kassadin, despite having heard the Master of Death's true name, still couldn't comprehend the situation. They have never met a person called "Dr. Rath" before, and the name of a stranger did little for them to understand the enemy they were facing.

Twisted fate knew the deal, however.

What he had said was the truth—Dr. Xavier Rath was the creator of his powers. It was more than a decade ago when this happened when Twisted fate was only in his teenage years. Memories of those times were scarce and blurred, but the important details were still locked in his brain.

It was nighttime, he recalled, when it happened.

 _Twisted fate knocked on the door of the high-tech laboratory building, admiring the outlook of the structure by looking upwards._

 _He was currently in a distant part of Zaun, in an exclusive location where Zaunite scientists worked. There were many laboratory buildings in this district, one of them being the building in front of him, and the design of these structures stood out amid the thousands of gigantic buildings constructed in the underground city. But this building had something that made it even more unique—its inhabitants._

 _The Zaunite scientists who own this laboratory were neither technological inventors nor chemists, but Rune scientists, as they called themselves. Led by Dr. Xavier Rath, these men were to study the mystical artifacts, and find a way to extract magic from it. They knew how to locate and retrieve Runes, so they had plenty of the artifacts in store._

 _They were different because the Government of Zaun was interested in their work, and funded them greatly in the hope of them inventing ways to weaponize Runes, thus strengthening their own army. The government kept the research low-key and any information concerning its developments were labelled as "Classified", keeping this controversial investigation under the radar of most nations, even Noxus._

 _Twisted fate lived in Zaun at that time and was looking for a job with decent pay, but lacked the skills to thrive in this tech-heavy city. Unable to work for a living, he resorted to thievery in order to save himself. Once in a robbery attempt, however, he was caught and arrested by local police due to his carelessness. To his surprise, he wasn't sent to prison straight away—he was sent to Dr. Rath's lab instead, where he was told that Dr. Rath was impressed with his thievery skills (the gypsy had escaped capture multiple times, and it took nearly a quarter of the entire Zaun police force to arrest him), and offered him a chance to work for him by retrieving scarce resources—diamond drills, special potion recipes…things that could not be found in Zaun nor provided by the government, in exchange for his freedom and loads of cash. Twisted fate was delighted—_ _ **what a lucky man I am,**_ _he thought. He accepted, and for a year the gypsy had stolen countless expensive items from the City of Piltover (where most of them could be found) yet live to give Dr. Rath what he needed, get the pay, and enjoy life in Zaun. He was overjoyed that his theft record was literally gone (no one could recognize him during thefts, besides for some reason the newspapers did not display his facial photograph to the public as usual)._

 _The door opened. Dr. Rath, dressed in his white lab coat as usual, walked out. He was old, with white hair and a thick, grey beard, but had sharp eyes like an eagle's._

" _Why is that you request me this urgently, Doctor?"_

 _It was a year since he worked for Dr. Rath, and that day he had an order from the scientist to meet him at night, for something urgent._

" _Well…unfortunately this isn't a mission," said Dr. Rath. Twisted fate could instantly smell the alcoholic breath from his mouth. "Instead, I would like to discuss with you about something else."_

 _Twisted fate arched his eyebrows. Dr. Rath had never discussed anything else before._

" _You want power, Tobias, or am I wrong?" he asked. Tobias Foxtrot did not have his infamous nickname back then in Zaun._

" _Depends on what kind of power," said Tobias. "All I want is a ton of money and live like a king without any consequences. Like, even with unlimited wealth, you cannot enjoy life when you're wanted all over Runeterra."_

" _True," agreed Dr. Rath, nodding his head. He looked at somewhere else for a few seconds, deep in his own thoughts. Meanwhile, Tobias stared at his boss, not sure of what to do._

" _If you can choose a type of superpower for yourself, what will you choose?" asked the doctor._

 _The Card master put on his thinking face._ _ **That's an unexpected question.**_

 _After a while he managed to answer:_

" _Teleportation."_

 _Being able to teleport was the gypsy's childhood dream. Often times when he was a young boy, he wished that he could go anywhere, anytime, by his sheer will._

" _Oh, I see."_

 _Dr. Rath seemed to have something in his mind, for he often broke eye contact with the gypsy._

" _You are no stranger to risk," said Dr. Rath suddenly. "You're a gambler, as they told me. Surely there are risks you are willing to take?"_

 _Tobias contemplated. Sometimes in order to win a gamble, big risks need to be taken so long as the result was worth it._

" _If the reward is as worth as the risk, I'll take it," replied the gypsy, not sure why such question was asked._

" _I see. Now, if I tell you that I can grant you a superpower, but the risk is Death itself, will you attempt this procedure?"_

 _Tobias was puzzled._ _ **What is he talking about?**_

" _I have recently discovered the way to extract magic from the Runes. Now, in case you do not know, Runes are artifacts with immense magical power. Now, I have a Rune that may grant the ability to teleport to any spot at will. With this magic, once you use the spell you should disappear from your initial location and reappear in another spot at your choice."_

 _The gypsy's eyes sparkled. "I do wish to obtain this power if I can, Doctor."_

 _Dr. Rath grinned._

" _If that is the case, then here is my new offer—come in and be the test subject of my experiment. I shall see if the magic in Runes can be transported to humans. If it does, then, congratulations, you will be awarded of that power. If it doesn't…it depends on whether you are lucky or not, for either you will survive without issues…or die in tremendous pain."_

 _At first, Tobias scowled._ _ **Using me as a test subject? Ridiculous! He's treating me like a toy!**_

" _I'm sorry, Dr. Rath, but the risk is too high. I am content with my life now, and death isn't an option for me at this moment," he rejected._

" _Are you sure? You won't get another chance," warned the doctor. "I have only one of these Runes, and once I tried it on another subject, you will miss out the chance if it succeeds."_

 _Tobias was adamant in this matter, however. He had no idea what the experiment looked like, and what if Dr. Rath was lying?_

" _Can't a dead man do the trick?"_

" _Unfortunately, even the greatest of powers are futile when no soul is in control of it. Besides, I cannot determine whether the subject would survive when it's dead beforehand."_

 _The Card Master nodded._

" _Why don't you try it on yourself then?" asked the gypsy._

" _Self-surgery is extremely difficult to perform," the doctor explained. "I am the only one who knows how to operate the experiment, so other scientists cannot do the job for me. Besides…as I said, risks exist. I am a man with ambitions, a man with dreams. Even without my job I can still live happily. It would be a waste if I end up being dead in such an experiment. Wouldn't it be better if the test subject is a desperate person, a person willing to take any risks knowing that he had nothing to lose?"_

 _Tobias widened his eyes, his pupils dilating._

" _It will be a win-win situation. If we succeed, you will get abilities that you will never regret in your life. You don't have many opportunities like this one, Tobias. Think carefully before you make a decision."_

 _He was right. It wasn't every day that one could have a chance to gain superpowers. Besides, the doctor's deep, brisk voice proved to be persuasive. His face did not hurt either—Tobias had long seen Dr. Rath as the wisest of the scientists, and surely he knew what he was doing?_

 _But even with so much persuasion, he still was skeptical of the whole event._

" _It would be nice if you can give me some time to think about it," he finally replied. "Perhaps a day would suffice."_

 _Dr. Rath shook his head. A sly grin surfaced on his face, giving the gypsy goosebumps. His eyes flickered cunningly, like a snake's._

" _I wanted you to join this programme voluntarily, Tobias, but you don't seem to cooperate. Perhaps you wish to try the hard way, I see."_

 _Tobias was confused. Hard way?_

 _Something was wrong._

 _The Card master drew his gold card in instinct, but before he could threaten the doctor he was grabbed by the hands and tied up at once. It turned out that multiple men wearing black masks had ambushed him from behind while he was distracted. He tried to scream, but his voices were muffled by the gloves covering his mouth._

" _Take him in," ordered Dr. Rath. "This experiment will carry on as planned, with or without the subject's consent."_

 _And then it was a blur. All Tobias could remember were memories of himself tied up in a special chair, with scientific equipment all over the room. Dr. Rath performed several surgeries all over his body, none of them endurable despite himself being injected with doses of anesthetic. His screams were muffled by a mask, his violent struggles suppressed by metal chains and ropes._

 _Sometime later there were other men dressed in lab coats entering the room._

" _Is the experiment successful, Dr. Rath?"_

" _The test subject lives," replied the doctor. "He survived the process of energy transferal. The only question is whether he possessed the strength of the Rune. We need to run tests for confirmation."_

" _What Rune did you use?"_

" _A pure energy Rune. It should grant the test subject raw strength."_

 _Dr. Rath had lied. Lied about everything._

 _But the unthinkable happened. Somehow, when all hope was lost, when Tobias was tied in chains and surrounded by mad Zaunite scientists, the unexpected happened._

 _The lightheaded gypsy heard a voice in his head._

" _Hello, Tobias. Congratulations for gaining access to the Dimension of Teleportation."_

 _ **Why am I hearing voices?**_

" _You are hearing my voice, Tobias. Exactly."_

 _ **Am I dead? Already? I thought it would involve a lot of pain.**_

" _You are not, but according to what I see you might soon suffer a lot of pain."_

 _ **Wait? What's happening around me?**_

 _Tobias's eyes jolted open as if he had a nightmare. In his gradually-clearing vision, he saw the very professors he worked for, standing around him, holding equipment he had never seen before, wearing lab masks on their faces. He saw himself tied up in metal chains, his mouth covered by a mask. Immediately he knew he was in grave danger—for he would never sign up for something like this voluntarily._

" _As you see, you are in great danger."_

 _ **Who are you? Oh wait, I am speaking without opening my mouth.**_

" _That doesn't matter."_

 _ **Can you get me out of here now? Because I had my hands tied up and I can't do anything.**_

" _No problem. Dr. Rath had just granted you the ability to teleport without his own knowledge. Now your best shot is to teleport out of here."_

" _ **Teleport? How?"**_

" _You will know soon."_

 _The Card master instantly felt a flood of memories in his brain—memories that he had practiced teleportation magic in the past. He was sure that he had never done such things in the past, but they seemed so real as if he had forgotten these events had once taken place. Regardless, with these new "memories" he understood what to do as if he was given a teleport manual mentally._

 _He could feel the cards in one of his secret pockets—one that certainly wasn't noticed by the scientists (he felt the other pockets were empty, its contents probably taken away). He gained control of them_ _with the mana in his body, the cards which would soon break him free from the chair._

 _When he became conscious of his surroundings again he overheard the conversation between the scientists._

" _But doctor, when I last saw the storage room along the corridor, the energy Rune was still in there!"_

" _Last saw? When did you last see the storage room?"_

" _A few minutes ago, when I was coming."_

" _Impossible. I took the energy Rune half an hour ago."_

" _Dr. Rath," said another scientist. "I have examined the Rune you have taken, and that is not an energy Rune. That is a Rune of Teleportation."_

" _What? Impossible!"_

" _They look nearly identical in shape and colour, so my guess is that you might have mixed them up. There were two Runes—you took the Rune of teleportation, and left the energy Rune in the storage."_

 _Dr. Rath did not know how to respond, judging by his shocked expression on the face._

 _Tobias took advantage of the situation. Using telepathy, he commanded the cards to slice through the metal chains and ropes constraining him. The scientists heard the sounds, so the Card Master took no chance and redirected the cards towards the men's necks._

 _Since the scientists did not foresee any retaliation from their test subject, they did not wear much protective equipment and thus collapsed to the floor one by one, their neck cut open by cards._

 _As the others fell, Dr. Rath managed to dodge some cards by ducking, then grabbed an iron stand nearby to block the rest. He pulled out a switch from his breast pocket and smashed the button on it in panic. Immediately the whole room shrieked and red lights came up. The alarms were triggered._

 _Tobias surveyed the room. Dr. Rath was the sole survivor in his onslaught, and though he wanted to finish him off as well, surely the whole facility was alerted and the best option was to escape as soon as possible before he got himself cornered._

 _He leapt up from the chair, shrugged off the torn ropes and chains, and made for the exit. The gypsy entered a quiet corridor, where one wall was made completely out of glass. The night view of Zaun was spectacular—massive residential buildings standing like colossal giants in the distance, looming over the comparatively smaller lab buildings in this area._

 _The gypsy had no time to admire the view, however. He remembered the instructions in his new "memories"._

 _ **The voice told me to think of a location. Where should I go?**_

" _Over there! That man wants to escape! Capture him!" yelled one of the guards._

 _ **Forget the bar. I am going to teleport back home.**_

 _The Card master drew a deck of cards necessary for the teleportation. Just then, guards entered from the two ends of the corridor, holding machine guns. They simultaneously pointed their weapons at Tobias, who raised his hands in surrender._

" _Fine, fine, I will not run. Trust me."_

 _Such was his words when he was in his bank heists, cornered by police. And yet, the opposite often became the truth._

 _The brutes—an accurate description of the guards—displayed skepticism on their faces._

" _You say that every time," said Dr. Rath, strolling out of the lab room unscathed. He was unarmed and unprotected, and yet Twisted fate did not find the courage to attack him or the guards. His hands froze._

 _The guards closed in on the two of them, but Dr. Rath signaled them to back off instead. They obeyed obediently, like loyal dogs._

" _Kill me if you want," continued the doctor, "but you know exactly what price you would pay."_

 _Tobias nodded. As a gambler, he knew this was an unwise risk to take._

 _For some reason, Dr. Rath was more of a threat to him than the guards, even without weapons. But what scared him most was his eyes, staring into his as if conveying the message: You're beyond saving. And the more the gypsy glanced the doctor's face, the more he believed Dr. Rath possessed eyes that could not have belonged to humans. Perhaps they belonged to an unworldly creature? This made Dr. Rath a mystery—and people always fear those that they were unfamiliar of._

" _I have to admit you have been a great asset of mine, even more than my colleagues. But not only have you defied my orders, you left my partners dead. I originally planned a swift, painless death for you as my gratitude for your services, but now that this happened, not only will you complete my experiment…but I will ensure you will be tortured in the most horrifying way—physically and psychologically."_

 _Upon hearing the words "torture" Tobias knew it would not end well if he chose not to make a move._

 _He could not kill all guards at once before he got himself killed. Killing Dr. Rath would not ensure his own survival. All hope seemed lost._

 _The glass behind him…could it be the only way to escape?_

 _He was currently standing roughly 25 meters above ground, at the top of the 7-storey lab building. Jumping off would certainly result in death._

 _A wild idea emerged in his mind. He contemplated the idea, doubtful that it would work. But what could he do now? Staying in the corridor would certainly lead to death._

 _ **You'll never know what's possible until you try,**_ _he often reminded himself._

 _This situation was no exception._

 _Tobias recalled the necessary steps to perform the spell—the magic words, the way he would position his cards…_

" _What are you thinking, Tobias? Escape? There is no escape route here, gypsy. Your escape routes have been completely blocked. Too bad I gave you the Teleportation Rune instead of the Strength Rune—that white Rune is totally useless!"_

 _Dr. Rath noticed the "third route" he could take. He chuckled._

" _You can't jump off this building, can you? Or are you thinking of…a better way to die? It might be, compared to what I have in store for you. I admire your cleverness, Tobias. You are free to choose then—death by suicide or death by torture?"_

 _The Card master was in thought. Should this plan succeed, it would become one of his greatest escapes pulled off in history. If not…well at least he wouldn't die a painful death._

 _Tobias slowly turned his body to face the window. The guards were close to pulling the trigger but were stopped in time by Dr. Rath._

" _Let him. He chose this path—a wise one. Though he never struck me as the brave type."_

 _The gypsy clenched his fists in fear, trying to comfort himself. He was sweating nervously as always, trembling everywhere._

" _Just do it," said the voice. "Yes, you can."_

 _ **I've never done this before.**_

" _It's simple. Trust me, you will love it."_

 _ **Really?**_

" _My advice is to make a move as soon as possible. The longer you stall, the worse."_

 _ **Ok.**_

 _Twisted fate drew a blue card from the deck, still gazing at the window._

" _I had strict orders to empty your pockets. Guess my men were too careless," said the doctor._

 _The gypsy was still in doubt._

 _ **You're a man, Tobias. Don't be a coward at this time of day!**_

 _These words served as a great motivation tool for the gypsy._

 _Tobias tossed the card at the window, shattering it into pieces while breaking the barrier between him and the outside air. He watched the shards of glass descend to the ground 25 meters below his feet, barely hearing them hitting the ground._

 _He exhaled. Hopefully, luck was still on his side._

" _Still don't have the guts? Or you need my help?"_

 _For one last time, the Card master confirmed he knew the procedures to the teleportation._

 _Then he made the jump._

 _Before his feet left the floor, he said the required magic words and tried to direct the deck of cards around him. He spread his limbs in an attempt to slow himself down while in the air._

 _The cards circled around his body rapidly, generating the magical energy needed. His body and the cards glowed in white, for reasons he did not understand._

 _He opened his mouth, screaming, deeming the lethal impact inevitable. He closed his eyes._

 _ **Nothing can save me now. It's over.**_

 _Tobias felt his face hitting a surface. This surface, however, was soft. In addition, he noticed he wasn't dead. He opened his eyes._

 _Rather than lying on solid ground, he found himself lying on a bed. Specifically, his own bed in the house he lived in Zaun._

 _The gypsy originally set his bedroom as the location, but upon he realized he had to perform "suicide" to escape, he switched the location to his bed, specifically, hoping to land on a soft spot. And it worked. He had escaped from death. He had cheated death._

" _Congratulations, Tobias. You have successfully defied death."_

 _At that moment he shouted in joy, delighted that he had escaped from Dr. Rath, all while gaining a new superpower. He deemed the whole event a "twist of Fate"—the incident granted him a superpower he dreamt of since childhood, and not only did he face no consequence, but with this ability he could easily intrude and escape with ease, an excellent tool in his criminal career. Hence why he gave himself a new name—Twisted fate. Not only did it sound better than his birth name, it served as a memory of this life-changing event._

He had hoped not to cross paths with Dr. Rath again, but Destiny had their fates intertwined. The doctor long lost in his memories had returned for him, in a new suit and new weapon. And though the old man could kill him easily with the Deathfire Grasp, he chose not to. Twisted fate found this oddly similar to the situation many years ago when Dr. Rath had him cornered in the corridor.

 _Dr. Rath is toying with us again. Just like in the old days._

"Your face suggests that you remember something, Twisted fate," commented the doctor. "Is it that fateful night that you escaped?"

The gypsy nodded.

"It happened because of a mistake. A simple mistake of recognizing the wrong Rune, and yet that mistake cost me a lot. It wasn't until you teleported away did I comprehend how much potential the Rune of Teleportation had. And it was the only one in my lab! Maybe it was because I am drunk that night. Maybe you had Lady Luck on your side. But regardless, I am determined to fix everything tonight—by taking vengeance on the only human who had cheated me."

The doctor switched his gaze towards Kassadin and Ryze, who stood aside and had no clue of what they were talking about.

"You only hold the Deathfire Grasp, and yet you think you can stand up against all of us. You are a fool," said Ryze in disgust.

"Wrong. You have been fooled by my appearance. You perceive yourself as a high figure, and yet you have no idea that I am the creator of the Runes. Not all of them, but some. I am…a Darkin."

"Darkin? You mean…the mystical Darkin imprisoned in Runic weapons?" exclaimed Kassadin.

"Indeed. Guess you are a more intelligent fellow, unlike that brainless, egg-headed fool."

"But the Darkins aren't the Creator of the Runes, as you suggest. They are evil entities—"

"This is the part where everyone gets wrong. The history books gave the wrong interpretation of true history. Since the three of you do not understand the truth, perhaps we should have a history lesson."

"History lesson? I'll teach you a lesson right now! Don't mess around with the Rune Mage!"

Ryze ran out of patience, firing a beam at Dr. Rath in the hope of defeating him as soon as possible, but the Deathfire Grasp counteracted the Rune Mage's beam with its own. He did not expect the resistance, allowing the opposing beam to easily penetrate Ryze's and strike him on the chest, blasting him onto a wall behind him.

"Give up, Ryze! You cannot oppose me," stated Dr. Rath in a firm tone. "Rather than resisting against a God that you cannot defeat, why not listen to what I have to say?"

Twisted fate and Kassadin had no choice but to obey. Having witnessed the power of the Deathfire Grasp, they had no intention of fighting—for now.

"Listen to the story, for no one else knows as well as I do. Humans have altered and twisted history for the benefit of themselves, but now you must hear what truly happened in the past."

"Countless millennium ago, we were omnipotent Gods. The six of us created Runeterra, this magical piece of land, using the Runes we created. We gave birth to the land, the ocean, the sky, and eventually life. We created the first humans and united them as a tribe, with no more than twenty people. Then we created animals, which were good company for humans. We became mortal ourselves, joining in the affairs of humanity and living in harmony. Life was simple at that time—all the resources in Runeterra belonged to the twenty people and the six of us. We were content with what we had created, and all of us were happy, or so we thought."

"We gave these humans free will to do anything they want. At first, they did good deeds, helping each other, enjoying the company of each other. We had fun with them, and all was right. They gave their offerings to us in ceremonies, watched us perform miracles using our godly powers, and admired us. Until one day…the humans wanted the power for themselves. We denied their request, saying that only the wise get to wield power—they would have to prove themselves worthy in order to gain strength. Indeed, humans do not know how to control power at that time. They obeyed and tried their best to impress us. Years passed, and they began to run out of patience. Every time they asked, we denied without further ado. The more they asked, the more they became discontent with us. Eventually, they found the powers the Runes contained…and did something terrible, so terrible that we failed to anticipate."

"One night, the humans presented us offerings in the monthly ceremony as usual. Suddenly while we weren't expecting, the humans backstabbed us with weapons from behind, then all of a sudden the entire tribe of humans ambushed us. We were horrified, but we summoned our powers and fought back. Unfortunately, we were mortal, and the cunning humans had crafted Runic weapons behind our backs for this whole time! They used our gifts against us, slaughtered us, and transferred our souls into those Runic weapons using magic, imprisoning us within for eternity. One of us escaped severely wounded, never to return to mankind, but the rest of us became poor souls chained in weapons. These evil humans—they celebrated for defeating us and becoming the masters of their own lives. This was the first sin committed by humans, and the fall of humanity…begins at this very time."

"But they knew that we were still Gods, and the risk of us escaping into Runeterra is too large. They buried us far away from civilization, to the edges of Valoran. Using the power of the Runes, they created the deepest trench in the entire island, so deep that it seemed endless. I watched in horror as they froze me with ice, leaving the weapon buried far into the ground so that no one could find it. We were separately buried in different parts of Runeterra. They called us the "Darkin"—creatures that would bring darkness and destruction to humanity, to deter the curious from searching for us. We were left alone for numerous millennia, suffering, with nothing we could do but to wait. To wait for the day when someone would find the weapons and break our spells. This is the true story of your ancestors, mortals. Realize how evil and ungrateful they are–they are willing to destroy their own creators for their own desires. This is what makes humans irredeemable!"

Twisted fate and Kassadin exchanged puzzled glances. This was the first time they heard of a story about their ancestors. It was also very difficult to believe that the man standing in front of them was the creator of the very land they stood on. Even Ryze, who laid on pieces of rubble not far away, had a surprised look on his face.

Dr. Rath continued.

"Time passed. The ancient Runic weapons began to weaken due to time, but the curse remains intact. It can easily be shattered externally, however, and that was what exactly happened a century ago—the weapon that imprisoned me was destroyed due to an earthquake and I was freed into this world, albeit with minimum abilities and without my physical form. But even without power I still desired revenge—revenge against those who imprisoned us for nearly eternity! So I rose from the trench in my soul form and reached the surface land of Runeterra, where I saw the billions of descendants of the first humans dwelling in this world. There was only one goal in my mind: to exterminate the entire human race."

"I posed myself as one of the humans and blended into society, learning about how the world had dramatically changed since the creation of time. I was fascinated with the…various entertainment you had invented for yourselves. Life wasn't as dull as in the past, I had to admit. But these distractions did not take me off course."

"My original plan was to find the Runes and absorb its immense power so that I can destroy the world. I could not find the Runes myself, however, for I was mortal and powerless. I needed help from the humans, ironically, in order to destroy them. I went to Zaun and found that several people were interested in the Runes as well, so I founded the society of Rune scientists and we worked in Zaun, being able to locate hidden Runes in Runeterra with support from the Zaun government. Everything went smoothly, too smoothly until you interfered, Twisted fate."

"Conveniently, you appeared when I needed you most. I was in a lack of resources for my experiments during that time—rare ones, in fact, that are usually unobtainable. When the Zaun government introduced you to me, I had to admit, I was fascinated by your abilities. I saw the potential in you to obtain resources for me with ease. So I employed you, paid you as you served for me. What a terrible decision I made, when I think of it now."

"Eventually, I found a way to transfer the energy in Runes to a human body. The problem was I needed someone to test for me, so I wouldn't die if anything went wrong. I am immortal, but if my physical-self dies then I would have to wait for many decades before my resurrection. I do not have the patience, so I needed someone to test for me. I did not want to waste my colleagues, however, so I had my sights on you, Twisted fate. You were the perfect test subject."

"Unfortunately, the experiment failed and I had innumerable losses. You know very well what happened, Twisted fate. The Zaun government had you on their top wanted list, but of course, you were too slippery for them."

"Later I discovered that there is a limited amount of Runic energy one person can withstand. In other words, I cannot absorb enough energy to revert to my godly state and single-handedly destroy armies, as I expect. So I had no choice but to use external forces to destroy this land. I searched in the library and found out the alternate dimensions—the Void and the Shadow Isles. These dimensions did not exist at the time of creation, and I was mesmerized by how such evil forces could hide in the very world where humans lived. Therefore, I wondered: what if I could destroy this world with the countless tormented souls in those hellish dimensions? With some research and my full knowledge of the Runes, I discovered a way to transport them to Runeterra—by a portal."

"I knew the Zaun government is too corrupt for my work, so I searched for other powers—strong nations that can finance the portal. Demacia was my first choice…but the Demacians certainly would not like the idea of bringing monsters into this land. Then I found Noxus—not only as strong as Demacia in terms of military strength, but also power-hungry enough to do anything for their rule of the entire land. Such power-obsessed, I thought. They remind me of the first humans—power-hungry as well. Regardless, I decided to work with them and we struck a deal—building the portal for them in exchange for some land of my own, when Noxus conqueres Runeterra. The deal is only a sheet of paper, however, and once the monsters entered Runeterra, there is no going back. Everyone will be killed because they do not realize Void and Shadow Isles creatures cannot be controlled by any means."

"So that is your master plan. To deceive a nation to help you conquer your enemies, then wiping them off Runeterra as well, leaving no one alive. Very Darkin-like, when it comes to your motives. Indeed, your plan brings darkness to this land," said Kassadin.

Everything became crystal clear. The gypsy knew many years ago that something was off with Dr. Rath. But he would never guess that he wasn't human after all, despite the one clue he found weird—his crimson, snake-like eyes.

"Enough talking of the past, then. Let us focus on the future—this Demon's portal, as I call it, is a hell of a beauty. See the golden arch up there? It's made of a very hard material that cannot be found in Runeterra, for it involved fusing diamond with gold and magic, hence its golden appearance. Literally indestructible, trust me."

Twisted fate looked up. The golden arch was one hell of a beauty, contrary to its purpose. Gazing at the golden arch, he imagined how much pieces of gold could be cut from the arch. And how much wealth could those pieces of gold generate…

 _Damn. I wonder if there is anything else in my brain other than money._

"But the arch is not the most important thing," the doctor continued. "A body cannot function without a heart. And the heart of the Demon's portal…are the five Runes within it. One white, one green, one blue, one purple, one black. I assume you know their sources of origin, do you, Rune mage?"

Ryze had recovered from the blast and stood up, returning to where Twisted fate and Kassadin stood. The Rune Mage's face of pride had dissipated, leaving only his gritted teeth. Apparently, he finally understood who he was up against and dared not boast himself again.

Ryze narrowed his eyes. He then pointed his index finger at the Blue Rune on the left.

"The White Rune is the Rune of Teleportation. The Blue Rune is a pure energy Rune. Energy Runes exist in any colour, but blue ones are the most superior since they contain the most energy. The Purple Rune is a Void Rune. The Black Rune is a Shadow Isles Rune. And the Green Rune…I believe it belongs to Valoran itself."

"That Rune is partly responsible for the creation of this magnificent land," Dr. Rath added. "Congratulations, Ryze. You have guessed them all correctly. Or rather, deduced them correctly. The Rune of Valoran, together with the Void and Shadow Isles Runes, represent these three separate dimensions. Well, technically the Shadow Isles are in Runeterra, but as you know there is an ancient curse that forbids any of the creatures into Valoran. These dimensions will be combined by the Rune of Teleportation, which will join them in the Dimension of Teleportation such that these worlds can be interconnected. And the Energy Rune will be the source of power to fuel this entire process—the amount of power it needs is unimaginable."

"I was off searching for the Rune of Valoran, which proved to be the toughest to locate. You see, these Runes other than the energy Rune are extremely rare. I can count on the fingers of one hand the number of these Runes left in their respective dimensions. Imagine searching for a Rune this size in the entire supercontinent of Valoran! That is worse than finding a needle in the ocean. But anyway, here they are. Enjoy the view, gentlemen, for it isn't every day that you can see such ancient artifacts for yourselves!"

Indeed, the Demon's portal had a mesmerizing appearance when combined with the sparkling Runes. Yet Twisted fate had to constantly remind himself that it was this beauty that would bring about the destruction of Valoran.

"It's about time," said Dr. Rath, whose hand had stopped channeling magic to the energy Rune. He turned his back on the three of them and stared at the portal once again. "Now that I have fused the final Rune into the portal…perhaps it is ultimately time, after all these years, for me to unleash hell on this damned land that I had created.

"I will not permit that!" shouted Kassadin in a commanding tone. He had lost his patience as well, just like Ryze. "This world is not yours to destroy, regardless of whether you are the God of this land or not!"

The Void walker disappeared in a blink, closing the distance between himself and Dr. Rath with several "blinks". The Deathfire Grasp fired dozens of dark projectiles aimed towards Kassadin, but he dodged them easily with his blinks. Drawing the Nether Blade, Kassadin was ready to stab the unsuspecting doctor's back.

At this point Dr. Rath still had his back turned, which puzzled Kassadin, since his blade was only inches away from his head.

 _How can he not notice me—_

 _ **THUD.**_

The Nether Blade found itself stabbing an invisible wall instead of Dr. Rath's head as if he was using a stick to hit a wall. In addition, Kassadin felt a rebound force on the invisible wall, sending him flying back through the air and crashing at the very spot where Ryze had previously landed on.

This time, it was Twisted fate and Ryze who gasped in shock. Dr. Rath still had his back turned.

"I do not make careless mistakes, unlike you flawed humans," the Darkin said. "Why don't you submit to Fate? Trying relentlessly won't get you anywhere. Now watch, as I activate the portal and release the terrors of Man to this world!"

He pointed the Deathfire Grasp at the blue energy Rune, which was situated in the center of the portal. He began saying words in an ancient language which Twisted fate could not understand.

"He's using the Runic language," explained Ryze. "He is commanding the energy Rune to connect the other four Runes concurrently."

The energy Rune fired a blue beam at the floor beneath the golden arch. Seconds later, the remaining four Runes fired their respective beam as well, concentrating on the same point. The arch itself was glowing in blue, exactly the same colour as the energy Rune.

"This is over," sighed Ryze. "Evil had emerged victorious. We tried to stop him, but as you can see, Kassadin and I can't even touch him. You definitely have no chance. And if the best mages cannot defeat him, I don't think the Demacians can."

Twisted fate tried his best not to be pessimistic, but it was hard in this situation. He found himself powerless, unable to do anything but to see his teammates defeated and watch the villain activate the doomsday device.

"Your fate is decided, humans. The portal has been activated, and there is no way you can stop it. The creatures that emerge will seal your fate. You have tried hard, travelling all the way to here...but you have failed. This is all over," said Dr. Rath in confidence.

The portal currently howled like the wind, broadcasting its presence to the entire room of people. The point where the beams intersected had developed into a wormhole, only to be further enlarged inside the arch and gradually filling in the entire space under the arch. The wormhole was split into half—one purple, one black in colour.

At this point, the Hextech lights in the room had gone off abruptly, which should have plunged the room into total darkness. But alas, the portal was as bright as a star due to the energy within, and visibility was unaffected.

Twisted fate stared into the wormhole. It was the first time he had seen a wormhole—in fact, he was quite sure that no one had seen a wormhole before. It looked like something out of this world, like a cross-section of a tornado but without its windy properties.

"This…this portal is breathtaking! Stunning! Nothing like I have seen before! Whoever created the Dimension of Teleportation is a genius!"

Even Dr. Rath, who self-claimed to be the oldest being ever existed, had not seen a wormhole. What confused Twisted fate, however, was the fact that Dr. Rath subtly admitted he wasn't the creator of the Dimension of Teleportation.

 _But he claimed he created everything on Runeterra! Who created the Dimension of Teleportation then?_

It was a mystery he couldn't afford to care now. His eyes were glued only on the wormhole, fearing that something…something unspeakable would pounce out randomly.

Then there came a low-pitched, petrifying, terrible scream from the wormhole, identical to the one which he had heard while walking on Kassadin's passageways. As if it wasn't terrifying enough, the voice echoed around the room. For a second Twisted fate believed his body was paralysed.

A massive claw poked out from the Void wormhole. A head emerged as well, which the gypsy thought was disgusting yet intimidating—nothing but its mouth was visible on its face. Despite having no eyes the creature shook his head as if it was searching for its prey.

Twisted fate's eyes were glued at the creature, but his legs had other ideas. The gypsy was surprised when he found himself walking backwards.

The Void creature had fully entered the room, exposing its entire body. If the creature stood upright its head might hit the ceiling, which was itself as tall as a 12-storey building. Twisted fate couldn't find words to describe its body—he could only relate its appearance to Kha'zix, who had quite the similarity with this beast in terms of body features.

 _It also reminds me of the roaches that crawl in those cursed sewers. This one is mega-sized._

The creature shrieked with the voice that Twisted fate had just heard. It was ready to wreak havoc on this land.

"I would have left the dirty work to them, Twisted fate. But it is your very presence that compels me to finish you off in person. When I thought I had you cornered with no escape…you did what I least expected. I hereby guarantee this will not happen again."

Dr. Rath clenched his fists as he said so. He ascended into the air right after the Deathfire Grasp flew back to his hand, his crimson eyes gazing at the three of them in the air as if he was a god, deciding whether the people underneath him deserved to live.

"You should have expected this scene a long time ago," said the doctor. "I vowed to take revenge—and here I am. This time, I will not spare you the chance of suicide. You'll die by my hands so that I can ensure you will not cheat me the second time."

The chilling, devilish laughter from the doctor sent shivers down the gypsy's spine because he knew Dr. Rath was telling the truth. Circumstances were different now compared to the past.

He was about to die in the Ironspike mountains, by the hands of his nemesis. Jumping off a cliff nearby probably would have been a better choice.

 _Why did I sign up for this?_

* * *

 **Author's note:**

 **Hmph…the true identity of the Master of Death…the ultimate puppetmaster…the person who had kept himself hidden for so long...is a non-champion.** **Wow. (insert unimpressed face here)**

 **Is it shocking? Underwhelming? What are your thoughts?**

 **If you read everything in this chapter (and I mean literally every line) then you should know my version of Twisted fate's origin story. Yes, it is completely different from lore (old or new), and the reason I had to invent my own was partially due to the lack of depth in LOL's version. But this one had ties with the Darkin as well. By the way, Dr. Xavier Rath was the creator of Twisted fate's powers in old lore. I can't say the same of the new lore, but look up the name online and you'll see. The exact details are different from mine though, for as I said, the Dr. Rath in the old lore wasn't a Darkin either.**

 **The whole picture will be taken care of in the next chapter (seriously the final one) when I shall explain in detail of why Dr. Xavier Rath is my chosen ultimate villain, and why he is oddly a Darkin in this story. Now we shall wait for the final confrontation between good and evil, which shall be released soon.**


	32. Finale (part 2)

The battle only continued to escalate in the main corridor.

The Night Hunter, the Purifier and the Prince of Demacia were locked in battle against the two best assassins in Noxus and the Blood brothers—a three versus four. They had switched battle grounds to keep themselves away from Swain's fury. Darius had ordered soldiers to spectate and not to interfere, not only because he was dead confident the Noxians would emerge to be victorious, but also to prevent friendly-fire since they fought in close proximity.

Vayne ducked, narrowly dodging Draven's spinning axe and Katarina's daggers inches above her head. In return, she fired four bolts at Katarina, who made several agile leaps to avoid the bolts. She had no problem dueling Katarina, but with Draven in the mix, it would take much more effort to do so. Even as a capable duelist herself, Vayne knew it was only a matter of time before her energy and adrenaline would run out. Indeed, she wore an enhanced battle suit, but it was protective against magic and not particularly against daggers and axes.

The other Demacians had a tougher time than her, however, due to Darius's raw strength and durability. The Demacians barely managed to beat Darius in the College of Techmaturgy, and this time Darius had Talon on his side. No matter how many times Jarvan had cried "DEMACIA" in the Noxians' face, he and Lucian were still on the losing side.

Vayne secretly wished that a fourth person would be there to even out the fight.

Suddenly there was a low-pitched, petrifying, terrible scream out of nowhere, loud enough for everyone in the corridor to hear. Vayne had enough experience in her career to not be frightened by monster screams, but even she couldn't help but shiver since she expected none of these in the Noxian headquarters. Even Darius, who was in full metal armor, raised his head quickly, searching for the source of the disturbing voice.

Vayne recognized the voice—the one she heard in the Void in Kassadin's pathways. The question was, why was it here?

"Oh. I guess our job is done here," said Katarina, snickering while backing away from the Demacians. "Better leave before things get ugly."

Of all the possible outcomes of the fight, none of the fighters would expect the Noxian ones to retreat—their tradition was to fight to the death regardless of victory or defeat. But the Demacians stood there, watching Darius, Draven, Talon, and Katarina backing off from the fight and returning to their army.

"You call us cowards," growled Jarvan. "And yet you are scared by a voice! Hypocrites! All of you!"

"You are blinded by honor," replied Darius calmly, removing his helmet. "It is obvious, prince, that the Demon's portal is activated, and anyone who stays here will die. We decided not to fight because we are smarter than you. Soldiers, head to the College. Now!"

"How dare them," Jarvan said to Lucian, as the Noxians scrambled towards the exits. "But they mentioned that the Demon's portal—"

"—is activated. I'm afraid so," agreed Lucian. "We must get back to the portal room at this moment."

The three of them reached the portal room in time to see the glowing blue portal and the wormhole within. A figure stood in front of the portal, wearing a black cloak with his back turned, holding a scepter with a human skull. If they looked on their left side they would see Ryze, Twisted fate, and Kassadin as well, staring at the same figure.

"Holy lord," said Jarvan, his jaw dropped. "I would never imagine the portal would undergo such a transformation. And who is that man in the cloak?"

And when a giant claw materialized from the wormhole, they knew what they saw was a sight they would never forget in their lifetime.

* * *

"It is no myth that the Deathfire Grasp can kill at sight. I'll show you," said Dr. Xavier Rath, pointing his scepter at Twisted fate. "I have told you everything you need to know, Tobias, and now there is nothing that can stop me from killing you."

Twisted fate did not react—his brain had yet to fully comprehend the shocking revelation a while ago. When the gypsy worked at his lab many years ago, he simply thought that he was an ordinary scientist with some crazy thoughts in his mind. What he did not expect was how immensely powerful the man was—it turned out that he wasn't a typical scientist but literally the Devil himself, posing as a human in order to silently drag the world into total destruction.

 _How could this be? How could I have been friends with the Devil all along?_

The hood hid Dr. Rath's face well, revealing only his mouth. The Card Master still could not deduce why he decided to wear a black cloak out of all things. Perhaps he was hiding something under the cloak, or perhaps he thought it made him badass. Nonetheless, it was a poor choice of clothing for a self-claimed "God".

 _If only I knew ancient Gods have such bad taste in fashion. Even that bird-freak has a decent dress code._

Nevertheless, Twisted fate was still self-aware despite the shock, and he managed to draw a gold card and toss it at the airborne man in self-defense.

Ryze, understanding that a card wouldn't save him at all, cast a spell on him with his palm facing the gypsy.

"Shield!"

Just when a magical shield began to construct around the gypsy, Ryze could see what others couldn't—an invisible Runic projectile speeding towards its target. It explained why the victims of the Deathfire Grasp could not foresee their deaths—the murder weapon was not in their sights. It was completely undetectable by the others, and almost undetectable by Ryze had he not had enhanced sight.

Fortunately, the magic shield blocked the shot, saving Twisted fate from his death. Dr. Rath saw the shield and understood why the gypsy had not died.

"And you're still trying to save him…saving a man who is already dead." Dr. Rath's cloak fluttered in the air. "Why'd you save him, I wonder, instead of saving yourselves. He will not help you win this war in any way!"

Twisted fate asked himself the same question. _Was he worthy of being saved?_

"We humans do not stand aside and watch others die," countered Ryze. "We are not heartless creatures, unlike you, Darkin. Humans aren't the only ones who have fallen—you fall along with them, your soul consumed by pure evil. And while humans know how to repent for their sins, you decide to take vengeance against innocents by slaughtering all of them. You're no better than us, in fact."

"Innocents? These people are innocents? Look at what these people did, Ryze. They killed lots of people. They killed lots of their own kind. They did all sorts of terrible things. They're worse than monsters in the Void or the Shadow Isles! They even try to wipe out nearly the entire population of Runeterra so that they can rule the land for themselves! They do not deserve to live, Ryze, and neither do you. I am simply using their own methods against themselves."

The four-legged Void creature leapt at the three of them, seeking to taste human blood. Instead, it found itself locked in a Rune Cage its size, restricting its movement inside the cage's area.

Kassadin, having recovered from the blast, "blinked" to the Void creature and released a pulse of Void energy with his Nether Blade. The Void energy corroded the creature's skin at once, destroying its entire body in seconds. Only its head and four legs remained, which dropped onto the floor. Twisted fate was amazed of how Kassadin effortlessly killed the creature since he was like an ant in the presence of it.

 _It has the durability of a roach as well._

Dr. Rath frowned. He wasn't amused, shaking his head.

"This creature dies so easily. Well then…guess I will have to eliminate you before I can conquer this land." He pointed the Deathfire Grasp at them once again, the skull charged up with energy.

"No!"

Dr. Rath's ray stopped mid-air, for Ryze used his own to counteract the Darkin's. It was like the scene when Ryze and Swain traded beams—a spectacular sight. Except for this time, Ryze could feel that he wouldn't be able to withstand this one for long, for his ray was becoming smaller while his opponents became larger.

Just then, another voice was heard—new creatures had emerged from the Demon's portal. This time it was a swarm of them, creatures Twisted fate had seen before.

Voidlings.

 _Those spiders again! Why?_

Twisted fate recalled a similar scene in Ivern's forest when they were heavily swarmed by the same voidlings in the trees.

Ryze noticed the Voidlings as well. He swore under his breath.

"I must deal with Dr. Rath right now. He is too strong with the Deathfire Grasp," said Ryze. "He would kill every one of you with ease if you don't have my shields. With my powers, I think I can hold my own against the Darkin—but I don't know how long I can withstand. You must find a way to shut down the portal, then after that come and give me a hand. If the seven of us coordinate, we can surely defeat Dr. Rath. Now stand aside, for I will let the beam loose!"

"Wait. Where are the others?"

Twisted fate did not get a reply, for Kassadin had grabbed him and blinked to a nearby location. Knowing that the others were safe, Ryze ducked aside, allowing Dr. Rath's beam to hit the floor, obliterating the spot.

Ryze had already left the ground. The Rune mage created a Runic platform for himself, standing on it so that he could meet Dr. Rath face-to-face in the same level of height. The cloaked man examined Ryze with interest, though unlike Ryze he was fully capable of flight without any help.

"Don't treat me like an inferior. You may be the creator of the Runes, Dr. Rath, but what you only have is the Deathfire Grasp. I'm sure I can beat a scepter alone."

"As you wish. It's been some time since I've had a worthy adversary."

Twisted fate watched the two old men duel in the air, but only for a moment—Ryze blasted Dr. Rath through the ceiling, and the two of them disappeared afterwards.

Now they were alone to deal with the Demon's portal. And the voidlings.

"We need to find the others," urged the gypsy. "I'll look for them."

"They're there."

Kassadin pointed a finger at the door, and, to Twisted Fate's surprise, there stood the people he was looking for, their eyes glued at the hole where Dr. Rath had flown through.

Twisted fate was dumbfounded.

"How did we not notice them? They were so close!"

"Oh, Twisted fate, you're there! Somehow we can't see you."

Jarvan hurried over and grouped up with the gypsy, together with Vayne and Lucian.

"Ryze went to fight that cloaked man?" asked Lucian, having no knowledge of the current situation.

"So that he can keep the Master of Death occupied," replied Kassadin.

"He is the Master of Death?" Jarvan couldn't believe that the Master of Death was an old man with a cloak. "How disappointing. I thought he would be…er…more terrifying."

"Don't be fooled. He's got way more beneath the surface. And it has been proven…the Master of Death has a relationship with Twisted fate."

"What?" The Demacians couldn't believe their ears.

"We'll talk about that later," urged the gypsy. "For now, we'd better deal with things at hand." He pointed at the hordes of voidlings crawling out from the portal, quickly swarming the room like ants. A rather revolting sight for some people.

"The portal must be shut down immediately," said Vayne, calm and emotionless as usual. "We cannot deal with an infinite number of them. Disabling the portal will end all of our problems."

"The voidlings," gasped Jarvan. "They're coming!"

The humans drew their weapons, ready to battle with creatures that were nothing like what they had fought before.

Kassadin glanced at the portal. The most straightforward and easiest way to disable the portal was, of course, to remove the Energy Rune from its place, taking away the portal's one and only power source.

"Guys! I have a plan."

"Go on," said Jarvan.

"We need to remove the Energy Rune from the portal. You guys need to keep the monsters busy while I teleport in and pull it out."

"Good. Guys, we have a new job—protect Kassadin," said Jarvan. "Kassadin will be the one to remove the Rune."

"Sounds good to me," said Lucian. Vayne nodded.

Twisted fate drew a deck of cards. He couldn't help but shiver at the sight of the Void creatures, but he knew what needed to be done.

"We got this," he said confidently, trying to bury his fears away.

"For Demacia!" Jarvan led the charge, extending his lance to pierce through the first wave of voidlings in front of him. Lucian and Vayne fired their weapons, eliminating the horde of voidlings with light missiles and silver bolts.

Twisted fate launched his own array of cards at the creatures, all while watching Kassadin "blinking" his way through the school of voidlings, dodging their strikes and making his way to the top of the portal where he wouldn't be disturbed due to its height. The Void Walker landed on one of the hollow circles on the portal, large enough for him to stand on.

The Energy Rune floated in the hollow circle. It had a perfectly spherical shape with the colour of the sea, its size comparable to Kassadin's chest. He couldn't help but admire its features, briefly in awe of how flawlessly the artifact was designed.

 _If only it belonged to me…_

Suddenly the realization dawned on him—he almost gave up his conscience to the crystal sphere in front of him. He swiftly regained control of his body and placed his hands on the Rune, knowing that his armor would protect him from any danger posed by the artifact.

 _I always forget how deceptive its appearance is._

Kassadin could see the pure blue energy released from the Rune, absorbed by the gold surrounding it. The energy appeared like lights dancing in the air as if tempting him to not do anything but to watch. The fact that the golden arch was the only light source in the room made the whole scene more dream-like than reality. Indeed, the atmosphere was peaceful than ever, and for a moment Kassadin forgot that the others were fighting under the portal, buying precious time for him. This calm atmosphere, however, ultimately did not distract him from his work.

A question popped into Kassadin's mind, one that he had pondered for some time.

 _How did the Rune emit energy without blowing up?_

Every Rune contained a certain amount of energy—it was a well-known fact. However, if someone decided to extract its power by directly destroying its outer shell, they wouldn't have time to regret—the energy in the Runes would become unstable once it was exposed to air, leading to a massive explosion that would flatten nearly everything within its radius. History had no records of anyone who had triggered the explosion—either no one had seen such huge an explosion, or no one lived to tell the tale.

The Runes in the portal must be emitting energy, for it could be seen clearly that energy from the Rune was flowing into the arch, but no explosion had gone off so far. Yet Kassadin took a closer inspection and he understood.

The Rune was emitting energy, but the energy wasn't pure—it was in a controlled state. The Rune had been modified to emit controlled energy, a form of energy that wouldn't react to air. The arch absorbed the controlled energy and it was used as fuel for the wormhole. This way, the Rune could transport energy to the arch without risking explosion—a clever modification.

Kassadin speculated that Dr. Rath must have modified the Rune by himself while he was speaking.

 _No wonder Dr. Rath proclaimed himself as the Creator of the Runes. I doubt no one could transform a Rune in this way like he does—even Ryze himself_.

With his questions resolved Kassadin placed his hands on the Rune. Using all his strength, the Void Walker pulled and hauled, in an attempt to remove the Rune from its position. But he felt like he was pulling an elephant, for the Rune was literally unmovable despite its rather small size. Something was preventing the Rune from budging at all.

 _How strange_ , he thought. _Runes are never this heavy._ Suddenly he realized why he couldn't do anything to the Rune—the Rune had been floating in the hollow circle for so long, defying gravity.

 _If it can defy gravity, what chance do I have?_

Kassadin had no idea how the Rune could accomplish this. Perhaps it also had something to do with Dr. Rath's modification.

"The Runes are stuck like a magnet here! It cannot be removed!" he reported.

"Find another way," urged Jarvan. "Just do anything you can to disable the portal!"

Kassadin felt himself plunging into a sense of desperateness.

 _If I can't pull it out, what can I do to stop the portal? It can't be left activated!_

Suddenly an idea surfaced to his mind. He realized it was an extremely risky plan, potentially putting their own lives at risk.

 _If we cannot remove the Runes, then the only way as I see it…is to destroy its shell. The Rune will release a huge amount of energy to the golden arch, and I am sure the arch cannot handle energy as well as the Rune since the Rune shell has natural magic resistance in addition to its durability, but the enhanced gold doesn't. Hopefully, the arch will be overloaded by the excessive energy, and the resulting explosion will be strong enough to wipe out the golden arch and every single living being nearby—including Dr. Rath._

Unfortunately, the casualties of this explosion might include them as well.

"Guys!" he shouted. "There's a change of plan. I will need to destroy the Rune instead. When I'm done, we must leave this building instantly!"

"Okay, just be quick! The voidlings are swarming in!" Jarvan shouted back, whilst cutting the heads of several voidlings.

The voidling numbers had increased ten-fold in only a minute. Meanwhile, new creatures from the Shadow Isles joined the fray, mainly shadow variations of animals: spiders, snakes, bears, bats…undead animals that were either fearsome or terrifying.

The humans tried their best to battle, but for every creature they kill, five would replace. The number of monsters was essentially infinite, and soon they found themselves backing off from the armies of monsters. They were only a few more steps away from the wall—any more backing and they would find themselves cornered, at the mercy of the merciless beasts.

Kassadin had no time to waste. He drew his Nether Blade, glancing at the Rune once again before raising his sword right on top of the artifact. With all his might, he plunged the blade into the Rune.

The Rune did not break at all.

 _I shall try again. Guess it takes more effort than I thought._

Once again Kassadin raised his sword and struck the Rune as much as he could, repeatedly as a miner did. As he did so cracks began to form on the surface, proving that Kassadin's efforts weren't futile.

All of a sudden he heard a highly disturbing voice from behind. What he saw the next second almost made him jump.

Kassadin would never imagine that the Shadow Isles inhabited hybrid creatures, such as the ones in front of him. This creature had the wings of a moth and the body of a white rabbit, though with the eyes of a mosquito. Its ears were out of place as well—like fish bones forcefully stuffed onto its head. It functional perfectly regardless, flapping like a bat did. This weird combination in the face could easily scare anyone who had never seen it before, including Kassadin. Creatures in the Void had weird looks, and he had adapted to it, but those in the Shadow Isles were a whole new level.

The moth-like creatures were the only ones capable of flight, and a squad of them had noticed a human standing on the wormhole. The squad launched their assault, threatening to collapse on him.

Noticing the threat, Kassadin temporarily ignored the Rune and charged his blade with energy, preparing to eliminate the pests with an Energy Pulse. Except he was abruptly interrupted when he felt his neck bitten.

Despite wearing his armor, Kassadin could still feel the sensation of a bite. Just when he turned and tried to stab the attacker, his eyes met the black ones of the creature. A dozen of them had attacked him from behind, crashing down and pinning him down with their bodies. Kassadin was completely taken by surprise, for nothing was in sight the last time he looked in that direction.

 _How? How did they suddenly appear and attack me from behind? Impossible!_

Kassadin dropped the blade and fell on the golden floor, unable to move as dozens of those moth-like creatures laid on top of his body. Their combined weight made movement impossible, let alone any retaliation. The creatures then revealed their mouths—the jaws of a shark. They sank their teeth into Kassadin's armor, seeking to tear it apart. Despite wearing metal armor, Kassadin could foresee that they would bite away his armor in a minute if he received no help. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't find the strength to do anything. Without his blade he couldn't summon the energy to blink away—a great escape tool forgone.

Worse still, he doubted the others could help him—even without sight on them he was sure they faced the same problem—too many threats. They were ordinary humans, after all, not enhanced individuals like himself. How could they survive?

 _I shouldn't be here,_ he scolded himself. _This whole attempt is no better than suicide._

* * *

Twisted fate gasped.

 _What in the world are those creatures?_

The gypsy quickly shoved away nearby voidlings, trying to catch a clearer glimpse of the newcomers. For a moment, he thought they were typical animals. Clearly not—these creatures had hideous and unsettling looks, like twisted hybrids of different animals. Surely the gypsy cannot deal with them all. The Card Master backed off but realized he was only a few steps away from the wall. Should he continue to step backwards, he would find himself cornered with no escape.

 _Damn. We're in deep trouble._

The gypsy could escape easily with "Gate", which was conveniently useable at the moment. But he remembered his allies, who had no such luxury. Abandoning them would be a very bad idea.

He looked to his left. Jarvan and Lucian were struggling as well, backing off slowly. They, too, realized how close the wall was, their widened eyes signaling their horror as well.

 _They're in no better condition than I am._

He looked to his right.

Vayne was fighting the voidlings with ease, though even she couldn't hide her surprise upon seeing the creatures. After firing a few more shots she reached into her pocket, fumbling for something.

 _Is she looking for a gadget? Anything might be useful in this situation._

Moments later she pulled out a whistle. A whistle that was the size of his own hand.

 _A whistle? Out of all the useful gadgets she could have used?_

Vayne simply placed the whistle in her mouth and blew in, ignoring the gypsy's bewildered face.

 _What is she doing?_

A low-pitched, whale-like repetitive sound was heard—unlike typical whistles, which had high sounds. Twisted fate was on the other side of the room, but the sound made it into his ears. Everyone in the portal room must have heard it as well, for in an instant the creatures unanimously glared at the source of the voice with all of their heads turned. Even the voidlings, which were on the brink of pouncing onto Twisted fate, were distracted.

Vayne had successfully captured the attention of the beasts from the Void and Shadow Isles alike.

 _How…how did she do that? What's in that whistle?_

"I will distract them," she managed to shout. "You must deactivate the portal!"

She drew her grappling gun, launched the hook at the entrance and glided towards the door, disappearing swiftly. The creatures weren't keen on letting her escape, however, and chased after her through the exit. Twisted fate wasn't sure what was happening, so he turned to Lucian hoping that he would have an answer.

"We have used that whistle before during our missions. It is a very useful tool in distracting these unworldly creatures," he simply explained. The creatures that blocked the gypsy's line of sight disappeared into the corridor, leaving Twisted Fate, Jarvan and Lucian alone on the floor.

Twisted fate arched his eyebrows, awed by how the Night Hunter was prepared for literally any occasion, no matter how improbable it was. He wondered where Kassadin was, but to his horror, he couldn't see him even with the Card of Destiny—he was lying in the golden arch, his sword left aside while he was swarmed by countless unfamiliar creatures. They were climbing all over his armor, and their movement and creepy appearances made the gypsy tremble. Somehow, they weren't distracted by Vayne's whistle.

 _Are those moths? Rabbits? They look like mixtures of different animals! Kassadin's surrounded by those creatures…but can I save him?_

He hesitated but eventually decided to help the Void walker. In a flash the gypsy was gone, materializing on the hole where the Energy Rune was positioned. Tossing a deck of cards, he ambushed the swarming moths by slicing through their heads, killing them effortlessly since they were as squishy as the voidlings. The moths dissolved quickly, leaving Kassadin's battered suit alone lying on the gold. Twisted fate ran to the Void Walker and volunteered to help, but Kassadin swiftly declined and got himself up, picking up his blade.

"Keep distracting the creatures while I continue to break the Rune's shell," he said with no sign of emotion.

"All right," frowned the gypsy. The fact that Kassadin did not show any appreciation of his assistance didn't go unnoticed. But he obeyed, and as Kassadin continued to strike the Rune with his sword he glanced around, searching for threats.

There came an animalistic growl, followed by the familiar sound of insects. A creature emerged from the wormhole with the appearance of a dragonfly—except it had the body mass of an elephant. It had the mouth of a leech with rows of sharp teeth.

Twisted fate's face turned pale white. Even Kassadin's white eyes dilated (at least that was what displayed on his metal mask). In a split second, the gypsy felt someone grabbing his shoulder and he was pulled to Kassadin's back.

"Get out! This monster blows a gas that is lethal—"

All Twisted fate could see was a black gas cloud originating from the dragonfly's mouth, directly shot at Kassadin. This gas was odd, for it sunk into the Void Walker's armor upon contact. Twisted fate did not breathe in any smoke due to Kassadin's metal suit serving as an absorber of the gas, though he observed the effects of the gas—the metal began to rust rapidly. Clearly, the gas was corrosive. The Card master attempted to help Kassadin, but he gestured him not to interfere.

"You cannot deal with the creature. My armor is resistant to its attacks, so I will distract it. You must break open the Rune's shell by yourself then, I'm afraid." Kassadin tossed his sword to the gypsy before leaping off the portal and landing on the dragonfly's back, causing it to fly in circles and distance itself from the portal.

Twisted fate glanced at the Nether blade, then at the blue Energy Rune hovering in the air. He could hear the bone-chilling screams of various creatures, indicating that the wormhole did not cease its spawning. If he chose to do nothing they would be swarmed by monsters soon enough, and without Vayne to make a distraction they would be cornered and killed whilst powerless to do anything. The only problem was that he had no idea what to do with the Rune.

More creatures spawned from the portal, so Jarvan and Lucian wouldn't be free anytime soon. Kassadin was dealing with the biggest and baddest of them all. Ryze was keeping Dr. Rath busy, and Vayne was off distracting an entire wave of monsters. He confirmed to himself that no one else would be there to help.

He could feel nothing but desperation. To be able to see the artifact that doomed the world, and yet could do nothing to stop it.

 _What the hell am I supposed to do? I don't have Kassadin's strength—I'm a mage!_

This time, the odds are all stacked against him. For once in a lifetime, he couldn't do anything to change the outcome.

"You seem desperate, Tobias."

Twisted fate froze. A voice in his mind…certainly he had heard it before?

"Do you not recognize me? I last talked to you not too long ago."

 _Oh, it's you. You again._

It was the voice years ago in Dr. Rath's lab. For some reason, it had decided to return when he needed help most.

"I have come to help you once again. You will need great strength to destroy this Rune."

 _Strength? Yes, I certainly do, because I have trouble cutting this Rune open!_

"But you must know that I cannot provide you the strength to do so. You must use your own strength."

 _I am nowhere strong enough! I'm a mage, not a bodybuilder!_

"You do. You just never realize it."

 _What?_

"When the Rune was infused in your body years ago, it granted you a large energy pool. Along with the ability to teleport, you can draw strength from your energy pool so that your fists can be strong enough to punch through a tree. This talent is long buried beneath your knowledge, Tobias, but you must utilize this strength now."

"But how?"

 _You will know soon._

The Card master instantly felt a flood of memories in his brain—memories that he had used these reserves of Runic energy in his body in the past. He was sure that he had never done such things before, but they seemed so real as if he had forgotten these events had once taken place. Regardless, with these new "memories" he understood what to do as if he was given a manual mentally.

 _This trick again, geez. After all these years, I can still be fooled by artificial memories._

Twisted fate closes his eyes as he searches for the hidden energy in his body—energy that he thought never existed. Surprisingly, he could feel the power in his arms moments later—power that felt so raw and so new. Quickly he directed the Runic energy to his fists and watched as his knuckles turned white in colour. Confidence surfaced in him, telling himself there was hope when even the Runes decided to help him.

The Card master picked up the sword and advanced towards the Rune. He had seen how Kassadin struck the Rune, so he tried his best to mimic his actions. He raised the blade like a pickaxe and bashed the Rune shell with the blade's edge. A crack was formed on the shell of the Rune.

 _Guess it isn't that indestructible after all._

Twisted fate's smirk returned. The odds had once again gone in his favor. Once again, he raised his sword and repeatedly battered the Rune. His efforts were rewarded—the cracks began to multiply in numbers and became larger in scale.

After dozens of strikes, the gypsy felt tired and briefly stopped his work. The Rune's shell looked more fragile than ever, having enough cracks to be confused as a puzzle.

 _One more strike will do._

Twisted fate was about to deliver the final blow when he heard a different voice.

 _Do not destroy me, Twisted fate! Please…I can do whatever you want…I have the power to grant you anything you want—anything—_

 **Smash.**

Twisted fate ignored the voice completely and struck the Rune, breaking its shell completely and shattering it into tiny fragments. As these crystal-like pieces flew in all angles, the energy within was released in the form of controlled blue energy, which was immediately absorbed by the golden arch itself in large amounts. The arch wasn't gold by then—it was already blue in colour due to the energy powering it, but its brightness currently could rival the suns.

Twisted fate wondered what he needed to do next, so he decided to ask Kassadin for that matter.

"Kassadin!" he shouted. "The Rune has been broken open! What now?"

He glanced around the room but couldn't see anyone but the unworldly creatures.

"Throw me the Nether blade!"

It was Kassadin, dashing away from the dragonfly that was on his trail for long. Twisted fate complied without hesitation, and once the Void Walker received the blade he blinked up to the hollow circle and extended his hand to the gypsy.

"Grab my arm. We're leaving."

Twisted fate was surprised. They did not permanently deactivate the portal—they only removed its power source. If they left things as they were, Dr. Rath could easily replace the broken Rune with another and reuse the portal. Surely they couldn't leave at this stage? But before he could say anything Kassadin blinked themselves out of the golden arch and landed on the floor. He waved his hand at Jarvan and Lucian, who were severely outnumbered and busy fighting the creatures.

"Stop fighting. We're leaving."

"Wait...we're done here?" asked Jarvan skeptically, gazing at the activated portal. "The portal is still active!"

"Not for long," replied Kassadin. "The Energy Rune has been destabilized, so it will detonate shortly! If we don't run, we'll be dead!"

"That gold material is very tough! It can withstand explosions!"

"Not this explosion! This one has at least a one-mile radius! Anything within its blast radius stands no chance!"

Twisted fate gasped. _One-mile radius? What kind of explosion is that?_

"If it has a one-mile radius, what chance do we have?" said Lucian.

 _One-mile radius…_

 _What chance do we have?_

Lucian's words echoed in the gypsy's mind. Before he knew his legs were already carrying him at full speed, dashing through the room towards the exit believing that he could outrun the explosion. The others followed suit, not willing to fall behind. The dragonfly, the voidlings, and the Shadow Isles creatures instinctively chased them from behind, not giving up on their prey.

The main corridor was empty when the four men stepped in, and so was the case for the warehouse, which contained no trucks. The Noxian soldiers had clearly abandoned the place—an act of cowardice or an act of wisdom. The gates of the warehouse were open conveniently, and soon they were out of the building, stepping into the fresh air and the snow once again. The area around the gates was illuminated by lights, but anywhere outside the vicinity was completely dark.

Twisted fate was still trying to catch his own breath. He had never run this quickly before, but fear was a great motivation. He stood in the snow, panting for breath as he glanced at the massive building behind him. Contrary to his expectations, the building did not explode—nothing was damaged at all. The creatures were at the warehouse gate growling, still hot on their trail, targeting no one but the humans. He began to doubt Kassadin's claims. Sure, Kassadin should be more intelligent as the Void walker, but surely no one could argue that he was at this moment. Right?

"Sounds like you are wrong, Kassadin. There is no explosion—your ancient knowledge is probably obsolete—"

What happened next completely threw him off guard. There was a sudden flash of white light behind him, followed by possibly the combined sounds of a thousand bolts of lightning all at once. The heat waves followed suit, immersing the humans in comforting heat—an odd feeling at a land of snow. For a brief moment they were blinded, and when the gypsy lifted his head he could see the sky as bright as day, along with flying pieces of debris up in the air on track to land on top of their heads.

Twisted fate panicked.

"RUN! RUN FASTER!" Words turned into screams as everyone panicked. Twisted fate was still processing the information in his head. Kassadin's prediction of an explosion had turned out to be no less than a volcanic eruption, minus the lava.

Running in the snow was not easy with its rigid surface, but Twisted Fate's legs were restless, taking him farther and farther away from the site. Tons of stones and pieces of marble came crashing down behind him, quaking the surface. Fortunately, they did not land directly on the humans.

"Keep running, guys! Don't stop!" The gypsy could barely hear Jarvan's voice.

Twisted fate though they were running an endlessly long path. Eventually, his body gave in and he stopped, taking in deep, hastened breaths. The others stopped as well, seeing that they were far enough from danger. He turned back and tried to comprehend what exactly happened behind them.

The gargantuan Noxian base was gone—no more buildings, no more gates, no more monsters. What remained was an ocean of fire and smoke, shockingly similar to the result of an erupted volcano—the fire and fury that the world had never seen before, perhaps. Pieces of rubble from the collapsed buildings remained on the ground, scattered. Twisted fate gazed at the sea of fire, mesmerized by the extraordinary scene.

"Guys! There! Look!"

Jarvan was pointing at the top of the flames. The night sky was supposed to be dark, but the orange flames brightened the sky like the sun itself. The gypsy's sharp eyes captured a figure in the sky, descending rapidly. It was a person no doubt, and not just any person—the Rune mage was falling head-first. Twisted fate watched as his body landed on a spot far away from the snow.

At that rate of descending, he wasn't sure if Ryze could survive that—after all, Ryze didn't even try to struggle at all. He descended in the air lifelessly as if he was dead.

A terrible thought ran through the gypsy's mind.

 _Ryze must have died at the hands of Dr. Rath…or did he?_

When the gypsy looked further into the sky he saw a cloaked man hovering in the air, holding a scepter with a skull head. His hood was facing the ruined building, suggesting that he was looking at that direction. Wondering what he was looking at, the gypsy drew the Card of Destiny.

From Dr. Rath's point of view, the gypsy could see the entire Noxian building in ruins and flames, guaranteeing no chance of any survival. But what shocked him most was that there was absolutely nothing in the spot formerly known as the "portal room"—the golden arch, the wormhole, the unworldly creatures…all were gone. Given the portal room's current condition, it could only mean one thing.

The Demon's portal had been destroyed.

* * *

Though not told verbally, Twisted fate could sense the disappointment in Dr. Rath behind the hood—he was staring at the ruins for too long as if mourning the death of a loved one. He did not feel sorry for him, however, not even a bit—it was a delight, in fact, to confirm that the portal that would lead to eternal horror was gone for good.

"Ryze…he's in great danger," reminded Jarvan.

 _Dude, Ryze landed on the floor like a speeding bullet! How could he not be in danger?_

In fact, they knew well that Ryze was in no good condition, and certainly would have run to him if it wasn't for Dr. Rath, whose presence in the air stopped them in their tracks. If they were discovered by him, the doctor would surely kill them all.

Twisted fate noticed that Vayne was not present—he was unsure of her whereabouts. Since her distraction, the Night Hunter was not to be seen again. Somewhat fearful for her safety, the gypsy drew the Card of Destiny and attempted to look, only to stop when he looked up again.

This time, the Doctor's hood wasn't facing the fallen portal in the distance—it was facing them. At first sight, the gypsy was led to believe that the fictional Grim Reaper was in the air—the two of them had much in common by appearance. Twisted fate finally worked out why Dr. Rath wore a black cloak out of all things—very possibly to imitate the God of Death. The Deathfire Grasp he held didn't hurt either.

He was fearful that the doctor would end their lives in a heartbeat, but his logical mind told him that everything they could do was futile. Their lives were entirely at the hands of the Darkin.

Dr. Rath descended from the air quickly and reached the ground within seconds, keeping a distance between them. His feet landed gently on the snow as his facial features became clearer—the wrinkles on his aged face was present. As intimidating as he was in his outfit, Dr. Rath was still an old man, or at least that was what he looked like even if he wasn't a mortal by heart.

"I witnessed what you have done," he said in an icy tone. "I was so close to defeating the Rune mage, for he is no match for me. Then I saw a massive ball of fire at the building—I thought a volcano had erupted on this land. But it wasn't. I recognized this sight—a sight I have not seen ever since the Rune Wars. I presume you have found a way to destabilize one of the Runes and cause a detonation. How you managed to do that is out of my imagination."

"I have a sword forged by Runes," explained Kassadin, raising his Nether Blade. "With this, we managed to cut open the Rune shell."

The old man nodded. Somehow the gypsy could not see his facial features properly.

"Very interesting. I have always believed only we could forge Rune weapons. It seems like the descendants have found a way as well."

Strangely, there was no hostility present in Dr. Rath's voice. He seemed to have no ill will towards them if only judged by his appearance and actions. Twisted fate was no less vigilant, though. He had been fooled by his appearance too many times.

An awkward silence ensued as the two opposing sides stared at each other with no words exchanged. Twisted fate could hear nothing but the crackling sounds of fire and his own breathing. He could even breathe in the heat—like the smell generated by a furnace.

The Darkin had a sly grin on his face. He could tell something bad was about to happen, since not only was he not angry after the destruction of his beloved portal, but he was, apparently, content to it.

"My means of destroying this world is gone. Temporarily. But I have the patience to wait. Unlike humans, I can live forever with no restraints. I will do this again regardless of time, and by then no one will be able to stop me…because you will be dead by then. Yes, if I cannot accomplish my goals tonight, then at least I will have the satisfaction of killing the one human who had cheated me, along with those who have successfully obstructed my scheme."

Twisted fate feared that they might not get out alive this time, as the Master of Death pointed the Deathfire Grasp at the four of them. He clutched his gold card, hoping it would be of use.

"Let me remember this day…the day that I have finally taken revenge on you, Twisted fate, for robbing that Rune."

The orb in the Deathfire Grasp glowed in energy, storing enough to vaporize them in a single shot. The gypsy's eyes were glued on the scepter, especially at the orb. He had no idea why he would do this, but the weapon was certainly something he had never seen before. It was no ordinary scepter judging by its appearance. Of all scepters in the world, the Deathfire Grasp was probably the most unique of them all.

He was too focused on the scepter of Death to notice a silver bolt travelling through the air, aimed at the doctor's back. In fact, it was completely soundless and blended perfectly in the dark, for some reason. None of them saw it coming until the Grasp did, firing a projectile of its own to counteract.

"What was that—oh. Never mind." It took a while for Twisted fate to register what happened. Help was on its way.

Dr. Rath tried to find the attacker, but there was only darkness. No one was at sight.

"An archer seeking to hide in the shadows? Let me tell you, you can't."

Another bolt materialized from the darkness, only to be deflected by another of the Grasp's projectiles.

"She's there," said Lucian with a grin. "She's alive."

"You don't expect her to die, do you? I barely know her, and I can tell she ain't going to be taken down this easily. She's a strong woman, after all," came the gypsy's reply. He noticed that Jarvan had made his move, approaching an unsuspecting Dr. Rath as silently as he could.

Usually, Jarvan was not one to rely on stealth. Charging into fights and shouting "DEMACIA!" was the norm for him, but this time he might have realized that his usual tactics could not be used against a Darkin.

Meanwhile, Dr. Rath was firing laser beams at arbitrary points in the darkness, in the hopes of killing the hidden attacker. Unfortunately for him, invisibility was something he could not tackle at the moment, even with a legendary weapon.

"This is unwise of you, archer. Sooner or later my lasers will strike you."

Just then, the doctor could hear heavy footsteps behind his back. Turning around, he saw the Prince of Demacia charging at him with a battle cry, raising his lance above his head as he leapt into the air, in a posture to stab the Darkin's head.

Dr. Rath showed no signs of fear. With the Deathfire Grasp, he summoned a shield that would repel any blow, just like what happened to Kassadin a while ago. If Jarvan landed his lance on the shield he would be knocked away effortlessly.

Except Jarvan was not aiming at Dr. Rath's head.

With a fist of strength, Jarvan slammed the ground with such force that the ground ruptured as if it was an earthquake. Dr. Rath had not expected such an attack, so he was knocked into the air by the resulting shockwave and flying debris. Despite that, he still managed to clutch the Deathfire Grasp in his hand, firmly.

Both Twisted fate and Kassadin saw the rare window of opportunity. He threw his gold card in an instant, just as Kassadin hurled his Nether blade at the same target. Dr. Rath was temporarily insensible in the air, thus unable to command the Deathfire Grasp to defend himself. The gypsy watched as the gold card plunged into his chest and immobilized him, relieved that he still was vulnerable to his magic. At the same time, the Nether blade collided with the legendary weapon, knocking it out of the Darkin's firm grasp. Before Dr. Rath could land on the floor, Jarvan grabbed him by the neck and subdued him, holding him in the air.

Dr. Rath regained consciousness and noticed his weapon was missing. He mouthed something in an ancient language, and soon the Deathfire Grasp dragged itself to the Master of Death as if he was a magnet. However, it halted midway, trapped in a Rune prison which materialized out of nowhere.

Ryze descended from the sky with a platform beneath his feet, his hand glowing with pure energy. Twisted fate did not see Ryze coming—he thought the Rune mage had suffered some serious injuries from the fall. There were some significant fresh cuts on his face and bare chest, plus a bloody, deep wound on his right shoulder, but other than that he seemed perfectly fine.

Vayne emerged from invisibility with her golden crossbow still aimed at Dr. Rath.

"I'm no archer, Dr. Rath. I am the Night Hunter."

The doctor could not move his head due to the Prince's tight grasp, not knowing that he was surrounded by all seven of the group. He looked surprised when his hood was forcibly pulled down by Lucian, revealing his aged, wrinkled face.

"It's over, Dr. Rath. You have been cornered by all of us, and by no means can you stand a chance against us."

The Darkin simply smirked with the face of an old man, despite having no chance to escape. Twisted fate did not know if he was acting fearless—or if he had some trick up his sleeve.

"You may have changed the course of Destiny temporarily, humans, but Runeterra is destined to fall. When I regain my strength, I will destroy your creations. I will slaughter your loved ones. I will leave nothing behind in this damned, unredeemable world, and I will end what I have created for millennia."

"You're talking big for a loser like you, Dr. Rath," said Ryze. "You're no better than a sitting duck without the Deathfire Grasp. What makes you think you can escape from us?"

The former Master of Death simply chuckled.

"What makes you think you can capture me?" he countered, ignoring Ryze's baffled face as he cast his glance on Twisted fate, who gulped when he locked eyes with the crimson ones of the Darkin.

"And you, Tobias Foxtrot—you're lucky that you have powerful allies on your side. I did not expect luck to favor you once again, and I had to say I'm impressed, Twisted fate. Cheating a god is no small feat—but even luck itself is limited, my old friend. When it runs out one day…I will find you in your darkest hour."

Again, the doctor's words would be much more intimidating if he wasn't surrounded with seemingly no escape.

"Well then. Guess I have already said enough. Now I should take my leave."

The others stared at him incredulously, having no idea how he could manage to "take his leave" when he was defenseless with no weapons and with nowhere to escape. Dr. Rath didn't even display any signs of fear as if he considered the whole thing as an obvious joke. The smirk remained on his face, and for a moment the gypsy thought he wore a mask resembling a face.

"I assume you know the best way to escape when there's no obvious route right, Twisted fate?"

Twisted fate knew the answer all too well.

"Teleportation."

"Exactly, my old friend. Now, I do not have teleportation powers, and neither do I have a convenient portal to access, but I will still escape. Can you imagine how?"

"Enough of this stalling, Dr. Rath. Your Destiny is set," said Ryze, channeling an energy orb. "I will kill you now to settle this once and for all."

Somehow, Twisted fate had a very bad feeling. His conscience was telling him that Dr. Rath was not lying. And his conscience was never wrong, at least for the record. He drew his gold card in case the situation went south.

"Miracles," said Dr. Rath, "always come from—"

Ryze launched the blue orb at the Darkin.

"—the sky."

At once Twisted Fate's view turned red. Dr. Rath was immersed by a red beam, out of nowhere, as the orb flew into the beam and disappeared. The red beam released a shockwave which knocked the seven of them away for a few meters.

Twisted fate looked up and saw the beam's source—the dark sky. The beam originated from the black cloud right on top of them and descended exactly onto the spot where Dr. Rath stood. Meanwhile, the Darkin began his villainous, maniacal laughter, a laughter which certainly did not belong to humans.

"Mark my words, humans. I will descend on Runeterra once again in the future, I will find you personally—and I will take revenge on you for annihilating my marvelous scheme. Enjoy your victory for the time being, but remember—this victory is only the beginning of an inevitable defeat that all of you will suffer."

The Darkin's final laughter echoed in the ears of those standing nearby, as the beam disappeared at the next second together with the man within. The eye-piercing red light was gone, replaced by an eerie darkness. The sound of crackling fire was heard once again, being the only sound in the still air.

Strangely, the group still managed to stare at the spot where the Darkin had previously stood for a few more seconds as if they could not register in their minds what they had witnessed.

"He's not around," said Twisted fate, breaking the silence. He was the first person to break the trance. "I cannot find him with my Destiny spell. If he is still in Runeterra, he must be very far away, at least out of Valoran."

"What a trick he pulled off," commented Kassadin, clearing his throat. "I have never seen this sort of magic before."

"That is no ordinary magic, Kassadin. I am absolutely sure it is ancient. He claims he is a Darkin—now I have more reason to believe so. I thought they were simply myths, but they might be lurking in this world after all," said Ryze.

"If they truly exist in this world, then we are in grave danger," warned Vayne. "They are too unpredictable in terms of power."

Another period of silence and exchanges of worrying glances.

"Well, at least he won't be back for a while, will he?" said Lucian with a smirk, putting away his guns. "I doubt he can do anything without the Deathfire Grasp."

"I believe he can't. He will be stuck in this human form indefinitely, according to my observations," explained Ryze.

"Then it makes things simple. We'll issue a warrant for this Dr. Rath over the entire continent. He will not be able to set foot on this land as long as he is spotted," said Jarvan. "But my only concern is whether he will acquire weapons as powerful as the Deathfire Grasp because if he did, he will become a real problem."

"Rest assured that this is highly unlikely to happen. Legendary artifacts like the Deathfire Grasp are extremely rare, not to mention the improbability of collecting them. How Dr. Rath managed to possess the Deathfire Grasp is a mystery. I would have interrogated him if he didn't disappear this quickly, but rest assured that he is no stronger than a normal human being. He cannot do anything to destroy the world for now."

"Wait," said the prince with a stern look. "I forgot Swain has a part of this as well. Where is he?"

"Don't ask. He's nothing more than a roasted chicken now."

Jarvan eyed Twisted fate, seemingly dumbfounded of his answer. Then he looked at the fallen Noxian base, which was in flames and ruins. He erupted into laughter.

"Ha ha ha ha…hahahaha…HaHaHaHa…HAHAHAHA… **HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA…!"**

The others did not understand the punchline; neither did the gypsy. Jarvan eventually stopped upon seeing the dumbfounded eyes directed at him.

"Sorry…I just found the term 'roasted chicken' quite amusing. Especially when used on a figure like Swain. I should believe you, considering that I don't see creepy, crimson-eyed ravens in the air anymore."

"Perhaps we should search for Swain's body, just in case. Because there is no guarantee he is dead."

"Can't find Swain either. He's gone," reported the gypsy.

"Gone…he escaped, I presume. Swain couldn't have died from that beam. He might have been saved by the Noxian soldiers who had escaped," Ryze deduced. "They couldn't have gone far, theoretically. How could he have disappeared?"

A probable answer popped into the gypsy's mind.

"The portal leading to the College. They must have escaped from there."

"Oh, God." Jarvan buried his face in his hands. "Can't believe he got away this time. Swain is one of the worst people in existence–imagine if he died in this land. So many future deaths can be prevented. The world would have been so much more peaceful."

"Relax, Jarvan. We already saved the whole of Runeterra today," comforted Lucian. "Besides, Noxus can be further dealt with…when you are King of Demacia."

Jarvan nodded.

"I have my father's legacy to continue. There are a lot of responsibilities for me…and I guess it would not be easy. But anyway, we shall celebrate. For now, we need not worry about any destructive schemes."

The prince was right. With the destruction of the Demon's portal, it was all over—at least for the time being.

Lucian sighed.

"I have strayed from my birthplace and tirelessly wandered Runeterra for all these years. Perhaps I should spend some quality time in Demacia," he said as he wrapped his arm around Vayne while she wasn't noticing. Instead of signaling him to back off, however, she performed no action.

"Well, Vayne, we'll have a lot to talk about in Demacia. You see, I don't even have a girlfriend yet—"

"Jarvan, how about we discuss this later? I strongly suggest that we get the hell out of this place—I'm freezing here," said the gypsy, his nose turned red due to the cold.

"Oh yes! Sorry that I forgot that, Twisted fate. Kassadin, can you open the portal for us?"

Moments later the group was gone, leaving the top of the Ironspike mountains desolated and in ruins.

* * *

 **Author's note:**

 **So that's it! The end of the lengthy climactic battle.**

 **First, why I chose Dr. Rath to be the ultimate villain.**

 **My prediction is that now you will either be thinking that: "wow, this author is a genius, I never thought that he would use this underrated character" or "wow, this author is stupid, I never thought that he would use a character that no one is familiar of!" or others. Well, I did not choose him just for the sake of a shocking plot twist. These are reasons why I chose Dr. Xavier Rath as the main villain in the whole story:**

 **1\. Unpredictability**

 **Usually, other stories would use common champion choices such as Swain, Malzahar, or whatever Noxian/Shadow Isles/Void champion as the biggest baddie. It might be more interesting if someone else is behind the scenes of the story.**

 **2\. Relationship with protagonist**

 **Rather than just simply summoning a demon with no ties to the world as a villain, the Master of Death is related to Twisted fate, the protagonist, in terms of the gypsy's creation and his powers—and this might prove to be a more interesting rivalry than others.**

 **3\. Relatively undeveloped in actual LOL lore**

 **This is actually a good thing, as I can be more creative when developing the antagonist rather than be restricted by the lore.**

 **Hope that you find him compelling as a villain.**

 **There are still two chapters yet to come, however, before we wrap up this story—first the epilogue, which will briefly explain the aftermath of the main characters and the villains, along with how exactly King Jarvan III died that fateful night. Another chapter, however, will be a teaser for a sequel to this story—yes, thou shall have a sequel because I enjoyed writing this very much (and why not continue?) Details shall be revealed in the next chapters.**

 **Still, it'll probably be an appropriate moment to ask for…reviews? If you have any compliments/criticism/thoughts/questions it'll be nice to post one…after all, I did invest much time in this story. Anyway, thank you for reading my work and er…see you next time.**

 _ **The anonymous TF main**_


	33. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

Jarvan tried hard to conceal his nervousness. Yet stage fright was a very difficult feeling to overcome—especially when he would soon be delivering a speech to the entire nation.

The inauguration of King Jarvan the Fourth was a few more days away, but he already felt like a king—the responsibilities had collapsed on him since his return from the Ironspike mountains. First, he had to deal with the rebellion that happened in Demacia before his journey. He and his men had gathered enough evidence to prove that Noxian moles were behind the attack, and with the information in hand he held a conference with the Valoran Council—a group of people that comprised the top leaders of all recognized nations in Runeterra: Demacia, Noxus, North Frejlord, South Frejlord, Piltover, Zaun, Bilgewater and Bandle City. Today, he was to announce the result of the conference to his people.

The location was none other than the Grand Plaza of Demacia City. A more than ideal place for him to address the public, for it could hold thousands of people easily. Besides, the numerous majestic Demacian structures and statues formed the basis of the Grand Plaza, generating an unexplainable aura which made any speaker sound much more powerful and confident.

There was a tall tower at the far end of the plaza and a balcony at the top. Inside the tower, Jarvan was adjusting his outfit and appearance before stepping into the balcony 50 meters above the ground, where he would face the massive crowd of Demacians in front of him.

"Are you sure you do not need the script at hand, King Jarvan?" one of his advisors asked. Several of his most trusted men surrounded him, all dressed in tuxedos and preparing Jarvan for the upcoming speech. Even Garen was there, though he was still in his armor suit.

"I have rehearsed my speech all night. The memory's still fresh in my mind—I can manage."

It was true that he had spent all night practicing, repeating the lines over and over again. Perhaps stage fright was to blame, but he didn't regret his efforts the night before.

"Well then. We wish you the best."

"Thank you, my friend."

Jarvan glanced at the group of people, glad that he had someone to trust and lean on no matter how dire the conditions were. He glanced at the balcony outside.

"It is time that I deliver the speech. People are waiting outside."

"Good luck, prince—I mean, King Jarvan!"

The prince couldn't help but smile at the remark. Though he did not expect to be king this quickly, it was a great feeling nonetheless to know that he would soon be one of the most powerful political figures in Runeterra.

He waved goodbye to the men before he stepped into the balcony. The balcony was built of white marble—a design he loved. The sky was blue with thin clouds and the warm morning sun. He could see the crowds of people in front of him, having gathered in this spot to hear out what Jarvan had to say. From his viewpoint, they were like tiny ants. Many had come—Jarvan could see with his naked eye that there were peasants and farmers, dressed in their work clothes, but there were also the middle-class and the rich, wearing shiny jewellery all over themselves. Regardless of their status, they stood in the same spot gazing at him. Somehow this sight reminded him of equality, an important value that was forgotten during Jarvan III's rule. He planned to reinforce equality when he sat on the throne.

 _I can foresee a lot of reforming to do in the future._

Though he had seen crowds of people before, it was his father who did the speaking in the past. Now, all sights were on him, and his nervousness only continued to increase.

Jarvan advanced towards a wooden speaking desk placed for him at the end of the balcony, where the people could see him from below. He was glad that none of the people would be able to see his anxious face up close—it would be a disgrace to himself.

He picked up the microphone and tapped it gently, generating sounds that were loud enough to broadcast his presence. Before that the crowds were still chattering—now they were silent, their attention focused on the future King of Demacia.

"My fellow Demacians. It is my honor to address you as the successor of the King's throne. I speak today for the dignity and the destiny of our nation. There are two major announcements I would like to make now."

"The first announcement is related to the rebellion that happened two weeks ago. I have spoken to the Valoran Council and convinced them that Noxus was behind the attack. As usual, the representatives of North and South Frejlord—Sejuani and Ashe respectively—was not present due to the ongoing civil war. I believed that Noxus's attack is an act of aggression, and I planned to declare war on them. However, some members of the Valoran Council decided to reinforce peace in the continent, and at this moment I believe the war will be a double-edged sword for us. For mutual benefits, the Council agrees that we punish Noxus heavily for its actions. An agreement was made—in exchange for the nation's survival, Noxus will have to make financial reparations of 50 million dollars, return all the land it had conquered from Demacia in the past century, and reduce the size of its army substantially. I am glad to say that Noxus has finally received the punishment it deserved over the past years."

There was a thunderous round of applause. From the balcony, Jarvan could see everyone clapping their hands in unison and cheering. Usually, this scene could only be seen in the stadium.

"However, there is a confession I need to make. Though I am proud of my father, some of his policies are questionable. It is probably no news that my father is a wealthy man…and he gives far more preference to the rich than the poor. Those without wealth work painfully like a slave, under the mercy of their masters who enjoyed extravagant lives. I have seen this injustice in the cities for a long time…but sadly I did not do enough to change my father's mind. The unjust policies were never changed."

Jarvan paused for a second—a long second indeed, for the cheering had died down swiftly and the atmosphere was dead silent again. His heart sank, but he continued:

"It wasn't until the night of the rebellion did I realize how serious this problem was. The Demacian army was easily corrupted because most soldiers were extremely unhappy with the current government, and turned to Noxus, which promised them wealth and happiness. This was why so many people joined the rebellion. Which brings me to the second announcement."

"Starting from the day I become King, I will reform everything. Policies, taxes, systems…anything that deserves to be scrapped will be scrapped, and anything that deserves to be built will be built. I am a man of my word, and I guarantee that within this decade, Demacia will change into a nation of Justice and equality, where every citizen of Demacia will be proud of themselves. There will be no slavery! No corruption! No beggars on the streets! With your help, my fellow Demacians, we will reform Demacia! We will make Demacia the greatest nation in history! We will make Demacia great again!"

The effect of Jarvan's words was evident—the crowd was cheering once again, louder than ever. White signs were raised among the crowd, signs that were titled "Hail King Jarvan the Fourth". It was large enough that one could see the words a mile away.

Jarvan couldn't help but smile at the glorious sight in front of him. The crowds were cheering, the nation was cheering—everyone was cheering. A few days ago he saved Runeterra from disaster, and now not only will Noxus face justice, but he would finally have the chance to accomplish the ultimate goal of the Lightshield family—to transform Demacia into a city of Justice and equality, a nation that the entire population would be proud of. There would be no more corruption when its people were satisfied with their lives, and without corruption, Demacia would eventually become the one and only superpower in Runeterra.

He glanced at the blue sky, wondering whether his parents were watching him in heaven.

 _Surely my father and mother will be proud of me._

"For the glory of Demacia, my people!" he shouted with excitement and happiness as the vicinity around the plaza was in an uproar.

* * *

"I seriously doubt that Jarvan can reform the country in just a decade."

Vayne sipped her coffee while she was sitting on her bed, staring out of the window. The Night Hunter dressed differently when secluded in her privacy—she only wore simple black nightwear. Her different suits were hung in her closet beside her bed, and her shades were placed on the desk nearby.

No one had ever seen her not dressed in her classic outfit or without no shades. She had once heard her friends in Demacia talking behind her back—that she went to bed without removing her costume. Not exactly an absurd guess given their impressions on her, but if anyone managed to catch her in her bedroom outfit, they might find her physique comparable to the most popular female models in town.

At least that was what Lucian imagined, as he couldn't help but stare at her body. They had very, very rarely slept on the same bed despite being partners for quite some time, the last record being a few years ago. Usually, the two of them were never in Demacia on the same day, and if it was the occasion then Vayne would decline Lucian's requests on sleeping in the same bed. He recalled the only time they did, and at that time Vayne was rather insecure and decided to sleep with her suit, shattering Lucian's plans in mind. This night marked the first time he had seen her not wearing her suit.

Lucian sat on a chair nearby the bedroom door, sipping his own coffee with his eyes facing the window as well, though he wasn't particularly interested in the night sky. He was slightly disappointed that he had yet to see what Vayne's chest looked like, knowing that the revealing nightwear would at least expose her cleavage.

"I'm confident in him. I can tell that he will be a great king from his personality and his ambitions. He is born to be a leader. Didn't you hear his speech that day? It was terrific!" He wondered if Vayne knew she was being stared at.

"He is too kind-hearted to be a leader. Believe me, he will easily get manipulated by those close to him," she said without emotion as usual.

"Oh, come on," said Lucian, gently placing his empty cup onto the floor. "Not everyone is born to be cruel and heartless. Most of us have a happy childhood, and they never realize just how dangerous the world can be."

Lucian was exceptionally careful when it came to talking about Vayne's past. Choice of words was important.

"There's also a reason why he has advisors on his side. They will guide him throughout his rule and will keep him away from the wrong track. The brainpower Jarvan has now is unparalleled—no Demacian king in history have so many advisors at once."

"Uh-huh."

Lucian raised his eyebrows. Vayne usually answered with a "hmph"—a sign of disapproval. They often have conflicting views.

 _Vayne's different tonight. She's…more open than usual. Perhaps I should take my chances. It's now or never._

Lucian made his move as quietly as he could, standing up from his chair.

"So, um…after the events that happened last week, I think we should just…take a break."

"Thought you'd say you'll go back to the Shadow Isles."

The purifier dressed simply as well, wearing a short-sleeved white shirt. Slowly and stealthily he tiptoed his way around the bed.

"I'm er…quite content in staying in Demacia for the time being. It was a tiring week travelling in Zaun and the mountains; I feel like resting instead of working."

He was already standing beside Vayne, to the point where it was impossible for her not to notice him. Lucian gently placed his hand on her shoulder, expecting her to push him away like old times.

She didn't.

Taking that as a signal to continue, Lucian sat down beside Vayne, wrapping his arm around her shoulders. He was in a position to see her body features clearly now, but his eyes were focused on the night sky instead, not keen on being caught staring.

"During my stay, it'll be wise for us to spend some quality time together," said Lucian.

"Care to elaborate?"

Lucian swore he heard some playfulness in her voice. He caressed the silk clothing, enjoying the sensation of the smooth material.

"Elaborate? Well, I haven't been to the capital city for quite a while, so perhaps you can show me around? We can definitely have some fun together."

"Hmph," said Vayne with her fingers resting on her chin.

"Or maybe spend time with your friends? Jarvan told me he likes fishing, so perhaps we can go on a fishing trip someday."

"Hmph," she replied. "But you aren't familiar with Jarvan's gang."

"Oh, c'mon! You know that I am great at socializing, even if I work alone much often. In no time, they will be like brothers and sisters to me."

When Vayne did not reply, Lucian's curiosity overtook him and he glanced to his left with the corner of his eyes. Needless to say, Vayne's nightwear did not cover much of her body, so his eyes naturally landed on her cleavage. And once he did, he found himself unable to look away.

"I thought you had plans to take me to the upcoming Snowdown Ball," she continued without looking at him. The unexpected remark took Lucian by surprise, though he did recall the promise he made with her a while ago.

 _I wonder how she managed to remember that._

"Oh. Of course I have that in mind! But I've never been to a party before, not to mention a ball. I can't dance as well, so you'll have to teach me."

Lucian couldn't help but chuckle at his lack of knowledge. Vayne groaned.

"I never thought that my first relationship will have me do all the work for the man, not in reverse."

Lucian felt a pang of guilt in himself. He pulled her closer and wrapped both of his arms around her this time, essentially hugging her.

"That will not be the case a few days later—I mean, a few dates later. You will be surprised by how surprisingly charismatic I can be. Hehe."

The Purifier could see Vayne's eyes up close. Her black eyes locked with his own, prompting both of them to stare at each other for a while.

Moments later, Vayne slipped out of Lucian's embrace and climbed onto the bed.

"I feel tired today. I'm going to bed."

Another shocker for Lucian. Vayne had always been the night owl, literally keeping herself awake for most of the night. And now she was volunteering to sleep early?

 _Uh, I feel tired today as well. Perhaps I should rest as well._

"Where do I sleep tonight, my dear?"

"Anywhere you like." Despite saying so, Vayne was already making space for him on the bed. Lucian took the cue and climbed onto the bed with her. Deep in his heart, his inner fantasies were only a step away from being achieved—

"Don't try anything funny, Lucian. You don't want to jeopardize your chances of sleeping on a proper bed next time."

Lucian was somewhat disappointed by Vayne's indirect declination, but he understood. He viewed himself as a patient man and knew that the opportunity would eventually arise in the future.

Vayne pulled the blanket over herself, leaving only her head exposed.

"Alright. At least I can cuddle with my girlfriend."

Lucian slipped into the sheets, wrapping his arms around her body. Unbeknownst to her, Lucian was at first doubtful of staying in Demacia, fearing that his combat skills might diminish over time. He knew Demacia was a paradise for tourists and was worried that he might not be strong-willed enough to withdraw himself from the relaxing lifestyle. But he had nearly dedicated his past years to combatting the creatures in the Shadow Isles—shouldn't he take a break from time to time? The journey in search for the Demon's portal itself was tiring enough. Besides, he would get to appreciate life for the time being and spend time with his partner.

He firmly believed he wouldn't regret his decision.

* * *

Disposing of the Deathfire Grasp wasn't the easiest of tasks, for the scepter itself was close to indestructible. It was the reason why it was left in the most remote locations instead of being destroyed—no one knew what to do with it. Ryze knew, however, that leaving such a weapon of potential in Runeterra was too risky. Especially if it fell into the wrong hands.

The scrolls he had carried at his back were of great use in this situation. Ryze wrapped the scepter up with the paper scrolls and using magic he successfully transported all the energy within the Grasp into the scrolls. After an entire day of extraction, the Deathfire Grasp was reduced to nothing but an ordinary scepter with a skull—a useless piece of junk, while the invaluable magic within was stored in the scrolls.

Ryze now stood on the edge of a volcano opening, the scrolls tied behind his back as usual.

 _Wow, this hole is really deep._

He was standing on the edge of a volcano opening gazing down at the massive hole. This volcano was no ordinary one—it was the largest one in Runeterra ever known to exist. Situated somewhere nearby Mount Targon, the previous eruption dated back to roughly a century ago, though due to being thousands of meters above sea level it wasn't a threat to anyone other than mountain climbers.

The volcano hole was in fact very deep. With enhanced sight Ryze could see the red liquid rock bubbling, vigorously splattering as if longing to escape.

Ryze fetched the scrolls he carried with him, holding it on top of the hole before releasing his grasp, dropping the scrolls into the opening. He watched the scrolls fall into the red, hot lava, never to be seen again. The lava should, in theory, extinguish the magic energy easily by vaporization, converting it into heat energy.

"A dangerous weapon destroyed. That's some excellent progress," remarked Kassadin, who was constructing a portal with his Nether Blade nearby.

"One is insignificant when there are simply too many of these in Runeterra. The Runes are still scattered in this world, not to mention that the Darkins can be anywhere in this world! Who knows what scheme they will be planning?"

"I am no more optimistic than you are, Ryze, but I believe we will accomplish this task eventually. Our partnership greatly extends our capabilities, after all."

Both Ryze and Kassadin had always been working alone, but the team-up in the Ironspike Mountains made them realize that their combined knowledge and strength would be unstoppable—both of them saw potential in each other.

"I hope so."

The Rune Mage lifted his head and saw a stunning sight—the sky was absolutely clear as they were way above the level of clouds. Millions of stars could be seen above, glowing like fireflies and brightening the dark sky like daylight. It was a spectacular sight, only found in the most remote of locations in Runeterra.

Ryze couldn't help but grin at the scene. It certainly lifted up his spirits.

"Perhaps the cosmic beings are there to bless us. Reigniting the hope within us which were buried for too long."

* * *

Twisted fate had found the best spot for a spectacular sunset view of the capital city.

The gypsy was at the highest point of Demacia—sitting on the tip of the tallest point of the Royal Castle. It was normally inaccessible by typical means, but Twisted fate could choose to be anywhere he wished. It was somewhat thrilling for him to know that he was the first person to reach here—and possibly the only one.

The sunset was right above the city from his viewpoint—the sky had turned tangerine as the yellow ball of fire gradually descended below the horizon. Behind him, night had already fallen with numerous visible stars in the sky. The clouds were thin enough to be mistaken as cotton-candy, drifting slowly towards the sun.

He had seen many paintings of various sunsets in the city, but never with his own eyes. It was said that the sunset had a mysterious way of captivation—time itself would slow down, and one would feel extraordinarily calm and peaceful in one's heart. Looking at a sunset painting was lackluster when compared to actually feeling it, and the gypsy finally understood why.

It seemed like yesterday when the events in the throne room had occurred. Memories were still fresh in his mind—those of the secret passageway which led them all the way up without being spotted, or those of how Garen was knocked away by the Randuin's Omen, or the dying words of the High General. And it was this event which led to their journey in search for the Demon's portal, stopping a world catastrophe just in time.

 _A blessing in disguise. A common trick of Destiny._

Twisted fate pulled out a burger he bought from a shop recently—a burger with so many ingredients that people often say it covered all nutrients a person needed to consume daily. He munched the burger, swallowing the beef, tomato, pineapple, vegetables and other foods into his stomach. The gypsy continued eating the hot burger while he gazed at the sunset mesmerized by its beauty.

He lost track of time when he finished the burger. But somehow the disappearance of the sun reminded him of something. Something…important.

 _Ah yes. The appointment._

Twisted fate glanced at his new golden watch, recalling the appointment he made with the Citizenship and Immigration Department at seven o' clock this evening, which he would receive valid documents to prove his citizenship of Demacia—a result of the promise that Jarvan had made with him before they set off for the Demon's portal. He smirked, knowing that after all these years of constant stealing and escaping, he could finally settle down in a nation without fear of capture whilst enjoying the riches he had earned as a reward for his heroic actions.

He realized it was 6:59, roughly fifty seconds away from reaching seven. Knowing it was time, he drew a deck of cards and stood up. He pictured the destination in his mind as the cards gained speed circling around his waist, generating enough magic to grant him access to the Dimension of Teleportation.

The gypsy caught one more glimpse of the fading sunset. Some interpret the sunset as the end of a certain stage in life, which was rather fitting for him at the moment.

 _My life of crime is finally over. Whatever life has in store for me, it better be good._

* * *

"Are you well, my highness?"

King Jarvan the Third hadn't seen any of his servants while he climbed the staircase back towards his bedroom. He nearly jumped when he heard the unexpected remark out of nowhere.

'Oh, it's you. Yes, I have just returned from my…fishing trip. I am definitely a bit tired."

"Forgive me, my Highness, but you look awful in the face. Your dark circles are too big, not to mention your pale face—"

"I said I'll be fine, servant. Speak no more."

The servant did not expect Jarvan to shout this angrily. Fearing his wrath, he bowed in apology and hurried away. The King shook his head, instantly regretting his outburst.

 _He's a good man—I shouldn't have scolded him like that. He's just being concerned for me._

Regardless, Jarvan continued to climb the staircase, when he began to recall the memories of what exactly happened a few hours ago. In fact, he hadn't gone to a fishing trip after all, contrary to what he had said to his servants and his son. The guilt of lying still remained in him, but he had far worse matters to be concerned of.

 _ **The Black Rose**_ _…how did they know?_

" _We have intelligence that you are concealing something powerful from us, King Jarvan," said Leblanc with a whisper in Jarvan's ear. "An artifact, in particular."_

" _An artifact? Yes, I have a lot of those shiny jewels in my palace. I am sure everyone knows that I particularly like jewellery, and that's no secret at all." He tried to deny her claims, but he could tell that even she knew something was fishy. Lying to a Deceiver was a bad idea._

" _No, we're not talking about artifacts for the rich," she said with a sly grin. "We're talking about_ _ **the**_ _artifact, my Highness. One that has been used as a weapon of mass destruction in the Rune Wars."_

 _Leblanc's words struck a nerve in Jarvan. It was clear that she knew far more than he expected._

" _Don't ask how I acquired that information, my Highness, but instead answer me: Where is it?"_

 _Jarvan began to wonder why he had decided to come to this secret meeting this late into the night. He had driven the Royal Carriage himself out of the city's boundaries to a spot in a forest where meetings of him and the Black Rose often took place. Of course, no one knew of his involvement with the malicious organization—in fact, almost no one in Runeterra had an idea that the leader of Demacia, a nation which was famous for its bitter rivalry with Noxus, was_ _ **a member of the Black Rose.**_

 _Involuntarily, that was._

 _The year when late King Jarvan the Second died of a disease, Jarvan the Third was supposed to claim the throne…but something went wrong. Due to Jarvan II's rather unhindered expenditure on his own family's luxurious life, the national bank ran out of money—literally. People were very unhappy with the Jarvans and threatened to overthrow the Royal Family's status as the rulers of Demacia. Desperate, Jarvan III sought for financial help but was unsuccessful._

 _He was about to give up when he found his father's last words written in a hidden letter, instructing him to find the High General of Demacia. He complied, and the High General revealed himself to be a member of the Black Rose, a secret organization of Noxus which had motives unknown to the world. He offered Jarvan a deal: by providing him the funding of the Black Rose, Jarvan would obey their orders no matter how immoral they were. Should he choose to betray the deal at any time, they would cease funding and Jarvan III's kingdom would cripple without money._

 _The former-prince was shocked—how could he join Noxus when he was a Demacian? But then he thought of their family's legacy. The Lightshield Royal bloodline would be eliminated if his throne was taken by someone else, and it would be very difficult to retake it by any means. Besides, he thought of the many benefits he had as a prince—the respect from every citizen in Demacia, the riches, the fame, the women… a shame if they were all gone._

 _Unsurprisingly, he accepted the offer. As he was told, the High General showed him a secret vault in Demacia where loads of gold and money were piled up. He became rich overnight, solidifying his throne and was able to regain the citizens' trust when he donated a huge sum of money to financially help the underprivileged. When asked of how he obtained such wealth, Jarvan III simply replied that his father kept a vault of hidden money for his successors._

 _And yes, in order to keep his throne secure. Jarvan III did much in favor of the Black Rose—unspeakable things that he preferred to forget. Now, the Black Rose was requesting him once again, but this time it involved something important and dangerous. An artifact which he would not give up easily._

" _You are hiding something in your castle, King Jarvan. You must hand it to us at once, or bear the consequences."_

 _Jarvan clenched his teeth. He knew no matter what he said, Leblanc would be adamant that he possessed the "item". And sadly, it was the truth. After some contemplation, he spoke to Leblanc:_

" _You are talking about the green Rune, right?"_

 _Leblanc nodded._

" _I thought you will play dumb, my Highness. It seems that you are wiser than I thought."_

 _Jarvan sighed._

" _Tomorrow at ten o' clock, at this very spot. I will bring you the Rune."_

 _Leblanc smirked._

" _A deal's a deal, Jarvan. See you tomorrow."_

 _Once Leblanc was gone, Jarvan boarded the carriage and tried his best to conceal his emotions, fearing that the Deceiver might be spying on him nearby. He spoke nothing and was expressionless until he returned to his palace, where he ensured that no one could spy on him._

Soon Jarvan found himself standing in front of his bedroom door, fumbling for the keys. He opened the doors and entered the Royal bedroom, which was tidied and well-polished by the servants. Though the atmosphere was calm, King Jarvan's thoughts raged in his mind like a thunderstorm.

 _Why am I still involved with the Black Rose? I have more than enough money now, enough to survive for another decade. With my son, our empire will only continue to prosper. Collaborating with a malicious organization like the Black Rose won't get me anywhere in the future but cause me problems. Perhaps it is time for me to discard our working relationship, for I don't want any more ties with them._

Not only did the King plan not to show himself at tomorrow's meeting, he was ready to hide the Rune at a secure location—far more secure than the current location. He knew that giving up such a powerful artifact to them would result in dire consequences.

 _It's over, Black Rose. I may not have a choice in the past, but now I do. I have more than enough protection for myself—they cannot assassinate me, not even the High General. I will find ways to deal with him, if not tomorrow—_

 **Trying to rebel, King Jarvan?**

The King was taken aback by the voice in his mind, which appeared out of nowhere.

 _Leblanc…is this you?_

It was clear that the voice didn't belong to himself. Jarvan thought if Leblanc had somehow found a way to speak to him mentally.

 **Me? Haven't you heard of myths in the past? Bedtime stories? None of them mentioned me?**

Now Jarvan was puzzled. _What in this world is this voice talking about?_

 **Thou seems to not know who I am. Thou shall hear what I have to say. I do not know who I am, what I am called, or who were my parents. I was born into this world with one and only purpose—to hunt those in their sleep and to deliver them…their worst nightmares. For centuries I have done so, picking the luckiest of people as my targets. The results have been well—some would wake up screaming, terrified. Some could not fall asleep ever again, becoming mad as the nights passed by. Some simply never woke up. Those who survived gave me a name. I am…Nocturne.**

Anyone who had some knowledge of mystical creatures would surely understand what Nocturne had said. But King Jarvan, being the "playboy" type of person, had neither been to any library in Demacia nor read any book. He found himself completely unfamiliar to this creature, and began to panic—people tend to fear what they have never encountered before.

 _But…but I'm not asleep? You said you will only attack those in bed…but I'm fully awake right now!_

 **Thou are correct that you are not asleep yet. And I haven't chosen you as my target so far. But I didn't come to you, Jarvan—you came to me.**

 _Huh?_

 **Remember the forest? There was a woman holding a potion of black magic—which contained me—and she contaminated the air with the magic essence. When you breathed in, I entered your body and I gained access to your thoughts, which is why I am here now.**

 _Leblanc,_ Jarvan thought. _What the hell did you do to me?_

 **I am sorry, human. But my duties need to be fulfilled, and since I am here in your consciousness, you will need to endure what happens next. You may live, or you may not, but your heart is already beating rather…slowly.**

King Jarvan recalled in horror that he, in fact, had symptoms of heart disease in recent months.

 _Nightmares? I had plenty in the past._ He tried to comfort himself.

 **Not just typical nightmares would I deliver, human. Typical nightmares come and go—but have you heard of a "living" nightmare?**

 _Living nightmare? That is nonsense—_

The King could no longer see his own bed as his vision faltered to nothing but darkness. What he saw next, he couldn't describe. But in the next few seconds he saw horrifying visions—visions that revealed his greatest fears. Desperate, he tried to slam the door, but the force applied was insufficient and the door was left with a small crack.

Jarvan was still standing, currently grasping his head in agony as the visions continued to terrorize him in unprecedented ways. His mouth was wide open, just like those who were screaming—except no voice came out from it. His pupils dilated rapidly and his skin turned pale in only a matter of seconds as if blood had run out of his body.

His heart stopped.

A person's heart was like the battery of an Hextech device—once it failed, all operations would cease. That was true for Jarvan, who froze abruptly. He still managed to stand for a few seconds before collapsing to the floor beside his bed, back-first with a heavy "thump". Unfortunately for him, it was midnight, and nearly everyone was asleep in their own bedrooms which were far away from the Royal bedroom. As a result, no one was awoken by the sound.

One would not die instantly when the heart stopped beating, as the brain cells would take a few minutes to completely die out. But Jarvan lied on the floor, helpless and unable to move as he passed out. Help was not on its way.

Jarvan lied in a very interesting posture—his arms and legs spread out, his mouth open, lips purple, and his tongue stuck out. His face was grim, and his blinking had stopped. One hand was laid on his chest on top of his heart. He stayed in this way until next morning, when a maid found him in the bedroom, dead. The palace was alerted, and news soon spread—King Jarvan the Third was dead. Many presume that he died of a heart attack, which wasn't completely untrue. Days after his death, there was a large-scale coup attack led by the High General himself. The General died, but not before he discovered where Jarvan had hidden the artifact—the Green Rune. And when the Demacians thought they were victorious in the battle, the Green Rune was sneaked out of the palace and transported to the College of Techmaturgy by a group of Noxian soldiers. The Green Rune then became one of the Runes used to construct the Demon's portal.

Jarvan called the Green Rune "the Rune of Valoran".

As to how he managed to obtain the Rune, the story behind was…rather complicated. A story that he would rather not disclose to the public, or his friends, or even his own son. Unbeknownst to the public, the King of Demacia had many secret affairs when he was out of the spotlight. Most of the public viewed Jarvan III as an honorable King with much contributions to Demacia during his rule. It was also this very reason that made him able to justify his secret affairs to himself.

 _I did it for their own good. And my own. My dealings with the Black Rose might be immoral, but it is surely necessary for the greater good of our nation._

With the King dead, the secrets he kept would be wiped out from this world. He had once worried that his son, Prince Jarvan the Fourth, might find out the truth of the Lightshield Family. But now with his death, all evidence was erased. From now on, Jarvan IV would take an aggressive stance against Noxus, not knowing that his father was once a member of an infamous Noxian organization, and the two sides had worked together in the past _. My son would certainly not find out the truth_ , King Jarvan the Third once thought.

Or would he?

* * *

 **Author's note:**

 **Whew. Nearly a year of hard work spent on this story. Quite worthwhile, in my opinion.**

 **Yep. The victim (or so as we thought) is not completely innocent. Now, I understand that it is a bold move to put Jarvan III as a member of the Black Rose, but corruption in Demacia is a theme I explored in the first part of the story, and if someone as high-ranking as the High General can be corrupted, who can't? Public figures often act like a gentleman, but when no one is looking, what will become of them?**

 **Anyway, the storyline is officially wrapped up, though the story is not to be abandoned yet. To fix some plot errors and better clarify some story detail, I will possibly rework the entire story and update it at a later date. Some scenes may be cut or added, but the overall plot will be roughly the same and it will certainly be a lot more polished.**

 **Anyway, I do hope that you enjoyed the story, and though it might not meet all of your expectations, I do think that it is the best Twisted fate story on this website (my story is the longest and quite comprehensive in my opinion) and one that I would certainly love if I were a reader.**

 **I will be releasing one more chapter soon, concerning a sequel to this story. If you're interested, do check it out.**

 **Once again, thank you for reading and God bless.**

 _ **The anonymous TF main**_


	34. Teaser--Mission Fate: Unification

**Teaser for**

 **(Mission Fate: Unification)**

 **A/N: Yes, the title for the sequel is shown above. I kind of fell in love with the concept of "post-credit scenes" in Marvel movies, so here I am posting a teaser. Major events that will take place in the next story will be foreshadowed here, as well as the main characters who will take part.**

 **Note that the events in this chapter are not plot-developments of (Mission Fate: Obliteration), but are solely used as a teaser for my next story.**

 **Whatever, let us press on.**

* * *

Snowdown was an annual event held during the last month of a year. Its origins could be dated back to the beginning of human civilization, when the cold, bitter winters ravaged many parts of Runeterra and brought along tons of snow, causing significant destruction and deaths. Many people return to their homelands to support their families in combatting the merciless winters, so Snowdown had become a festival of peace—brutal wars often came to an end before the time of Snowdown, since anyone who remained in the battlefield under such extreme circumstances was guaranteed to freeze to death. It was also the festival of reunion, due to the return of family members from all over the island. Finally, it was the festival of hope—Snowdown was a time for people to embrace the upcoming new year. Everyone in Runeterra was no stranger to these celebrations, and even if they exist in a variety of forms in different nations, the main theme was essentially identical—peace, reunion, and hope.

Unlike most nations, which had three-week celebrations for Snowdown, Demacia had an exclusive month-long celebration. It also had a remarkable "Snowdown Ball", a large-scale party held almost every year which invited distinguished guests across the continent to attend (except Noxus, for obvious reasons). Unfortunately, it was only available for the upper-class citizens of Demacia or war heroes who proved themselves worthy. For many decades, the common people often grumbled the unfair advantages of the rich, while few official celebrations were made for the poor. But with the inauguration of King Jarvan the Fourth, many things had changed, and the majority of the public was more than satisfied with the sheer number of activities designed for them during Snowdown.

Still, no one would argue that the "Snowdown Ball" was the most prestigious event one could participate in Runeterra, regularly held in the Hall of the College of Magic. Its fame attracted famous people from all over the continent to come and participate.

Usually, the ball began at 7 pm when the carriages were parked outside the building and people enter the College via the main entrance. There was a red carpet leading towards the doors, like those used during formal occasions. Anyone who walked through the carpet would feel a sense of power as if they were VIPs or celebrities—famous people. It was a gratifying feeling that could not be felt anywhere else. Standing beside the red carpet were people who tried to catch a glimpse of those who enter. Some of them were lucky enough to have Hextech cameras, allowing them to take photos with their idols. These do not last long, however, for most of the participants would be inside the ball before 7:30 pm, and after that the civilians would exit the area, leaving the entrance empty once again save for the carriages.

At around 9 pm, a carriage turned up at the entrance of the College. The crowd had long been dismissed by then.

A man wearing a red tuxedo alighted from the carriage. With a black shirt inside the tuxedo and white trousers, along with a black bow-tie on his neck, he dressed as if he was a celebrity. Though he certainly wore relatively little in such low temperatures—In Snowdown, the city's temperature could drop below freezing.

The man then extended his hand to help a woman climb out of the carriage. Unlike him, the woman wore a red winter jacket and wore shades.

"Here's your money, my friend," the man said as he paid the driver of the carriage, who had winter clothing all over his body. The driver collected the money with his trembling hand and waved goodbye before departing the spot hastily.

The two walked on the red carpet into the College of Magic. A piece of newspaper flew by out of nowhere and landed near the man's feet, prompting him to pick the paper up. He read the headline:

"GANGPLANK HAS FALLEN"

He continued skimming through the lines.

" _Infamous pirate lord Gangplank is presumed dead during one of his raids in Noxian waters. Reports show that he is betrayed by his partner, Sarah Fortune, and he was left to drown in the sea. This event has triggered much unrest in Bilgewater, as enemies of Gangplank rebel against his men and seek to exile them from the island nation. It is expected that the seas would be safer due to Gangplank's death, though it is unknown if new pirate leaders would emerge from Bligewater to take over Gangplank's place."_

The man tossed the paper away, uninterested in the issue.

Once they entered the building, they were greeted by students of the College who stood in their way towards the hall.

"Good evening, sir. And madam," one of the students greeted. He was young, no older than 20. All of them dressed the same—black tuxedos and tuxedo pants. "I believe you are participants of the Snowdown Ball?"

"Indeed, we are," replied the man. "Shall we show you the tickets?"

"Yes, please."

The man's hand reached into his pocket, fumbling.

"By the way, sir, are you aware that non-Demacians need to make a registration on the counter desk over there?"

The black man froze. His hand was still in his pocket, but his eyes were already locked with the person who asked the question.

"Why is that?"

"Um…it is for security purposes—"

"No. What I mean is, why do you think I am not a Demacian?"

The student's face turned pale in an instant. His lack of experience was evident in his embarrassed face.

"I…I did not imply that—"

"Is it because…I'm black?"

The man's words struck a nerve in the student. He stared at him as if he was a ghost.

"Oh, c'mon. This is Snowdown, for God's sake. Why are you treating this so seriously? This is a joke!"

The student heaved a sigh of relief upon hearing that, though his red cheeks had yet to dissolve.

"I found the tickets. How forgetful of me to have placed them in another pocket of mine," said the man, handing the tickets over to the student. The student quickly glanced at it and bowed.

"You may enter. I am sorry for my rude words, sir. Skin colour is not an indicator of a person's race—"

"No need to apologize, young lad. You're lucky you met a kind-hearted man like me tonight. Though I must tell you that I am proud to be a black man."

Now the student eyed him with confusion.

"Look at me. Black men are the most masculine among all races. If I'm not manly, I won't be able to bring a date to the party."

The young men turned to see the woman removing her winter jacket. Underneath it was a silk pink dress, though not a typical one—it bared her entire shoulder and arms along with her belly, exposing her pale skin. Her dress, combined with her naturally hourglass-shaped body and near-perfect makeup on her face, made clear that she dressed to kill tonight.

She winked at the men who stood there blankly, already hypnotized by her beauty.

"Let's go, Lucian," she simply said.

"Oh. Yes. I shall not keep you waiting, my lady."

The woman extended her hand, allowing Lucian to walk hand in hand with her into the hallway of the College. Her high heels enabled her to walk elegantly on the red carpet like a real female model. Lucian found her walking posture irresistible and stared at her from the corner of his eye.

"They're still staring at me, you know," remarked the woman, glancing back occasionally. "The boys acted like they've never seen a lady before."

"Your outfit is irresistible to us men, Shauna. Your outfit tonight really hits the spot." Compared to her usual Night Hunter outfit, this one was seductive and alluring in too many ways. Even if she put her shades on, people would still perceive her and the Night Hunter as two separate individuals.

"You won't see me like this anytime soon. Better treasure the precious time we have tonight," she replied, leaning close to him.

"Geez, your sultry voice really turns me on."

At once Lucian found himself inches away from her face, realizing that she had pulled him close.

"I take that as a compliment," she whispered.

At once Lucian's lips crashed into hers, wanting to kiss her passionately. But instead he only managed to peck on her lips—Vayne pushed him away before he could continue.

"Aw, I thought we are dates tonight. If a kiss can't satisfy you, what can?"

"You'll get more than enough satisfaction later into the night. Or maybe gratification, if you prefer," she said with a suggestive wink. Lucian looked straight into Vayne's black eyes and thought that her eyes were attractive, but now they seem to be in control of his inner desires. One suggestive wink and he felt barely able to control himself. After all, he had yet to see this side of his usually-serious partner until tonight.

"Alright. Priority's on the Snowdown ball for now."

Lucian pushed the doors open and stepped into the Hall. It was a gargantuan room with multiple golden chandeliers on the ceiling and dozens of Snowdown decorations on the marble walls. It was quite warm here despite the temperatures outside. There were many participants, most of them either wearing tuxedos or elegant dresses. Most of them were rich, judging by the jewellery they wore, and they seemed to have a good time. The majority were chatting, though there was a spot for people to dance on the marble floor.

There was a stage where a group of musicians stood, completely immersed in their own music. Lucian recognized the leader to be Sona, a Demacian girl he first met a few months ago. He was surprised that she was mute, though he found her cute, sociable, and ultimately a fascinating person to hang out with. Her songs were what defined her, turning her into an international celebrity that made citizens across Runeterra fall in love with her, despite her disability.

Lucian observed. He could tell that some people here were famous, but he could recognize none. He could also tell that some people were famed politicians, though he wasn't into politics anyway. He felt like a total stranger in the hall, even if he was technically a Demacian. Perhaps the kid was right? Perhaps he wasn't truly a Demacian?

"Good evening, sir and madam. Would you like a drink?"

A waiter approached the two of them with a plate of drinks. There were only two choices—champagne or red wine.

"I'd like some champagne." Lucian took a glass from the waiter, with Vayne following suit. The two glanced at each other, then at their glasses. The Purifier realized he had not drunk for so long that he had forgotten the taste of champagne.

"A great beginning for tonight," said Lucian. "Cheers for Demacia."

The two of them toasted each other and clinked their glasses before drinking. Lucian wasn't disappointed by the drink—in fact, he found it rather tasty, and Vayne's pleased look suggested she felt the same. A while later they returned the empty glass to another waiter and continued to saunter through the crowds of people, simply enjoying the relaxing atmosphere and the song.

Lucian looked around, searching for familiar faces such as Quinn or Garen. Occasionally his eyes lingered on the faces of certain women, but he found them unattractive, overshadowed by his partner's mesmerizing looks.

Suddenly he found himself staring at a certain blond's hair. It belonged to a teenager dressed in a white tuxedo, and a rose was attached to his breast pocket. Without being told, Lucian could tell he was popular among girls his own age.

"Who is that blond kid?"

Vayne stared at him as if he had just asked something ridiculous.

"You do not know him? I didn't know you'd be this detached from society. He is, in fact, one of the most popular adventurers on this continent."

Somehow the blonde man managed to materialize in front of Vayne and Lucian. With a smile on his face, he reached his hand out, eager to shake hands with the Night Hunter.

"Nice to meet you, lady. I have yet to see you in previous parties—may I ask for your name?"

Vayne narrowed her eyes but nonetheless shook hands with him.

"Vayne. Shauna Vayne."

"Ah. You must be the King's friend. I assume you know who I am?"

"Ezreal. Your fame spreads all over the whole continent."

"Glad you know me well. You look flattering today, Shauna." He kissed the woman's hand gently, completely ignoring Lucian who was still holding her other hand.

"Thank you." Vayne was anything but flattered.

"It seems like you don't have a partner tonight. A woman without a date is rather lonely—perhaps I should accompany you? We can enjoy the night together, and I'll show you my precious treasures from all over Runeterra—"

"Excuse me, sir, but she already has a date tonight," interrupted Lucian, who could no longer hold his frustration back. Ezreal eyed him skeptically as if Lucian was trying to steal the woman from him.

"You? I have never seen you before! What's your name?"

Lucian glared at Ezreal with unspoken hostility.

"My name does not matter, Ezreal. What matters is that she and I are together tonight, and you should look for someone else if you want company."

The black man and the blonde teenager locked eyes with each other.

"No offense, sir, but Vayne is such a beautiful woman. Frankly, I believe she is out of your league."

Lucian's face was unmoved, but deep down he would have cursed the man a hundred times if the setting was different.

"Why don't you date someone like you? I'm sure black women would find you much more attractive. I don't know how much you paid for a girl like her, but—"

Vayne ran out of patience and stood between her boyfriend and the explorer.

"Let me tell you something, Ezreal. I am not interested in anything related to you, and I am certainly not interested in spending the night with you tonight. I will now politely ask you to get out of our sights, or else," she threatened.

Ezreal backed off slightly, not expecting her outburst. Suddenly a number of girls ran to the teenager from behind, hugging him tightly.

"I want your autograph, Ezreal! Please! Please come! We've been looking for you everywhere!"

Lucian noticed that the girls were mostly teenagers, roughly the same age as Ezreal. They wore gowns and dressed like princesses.

"Oh, sure. I mean, you must be very interested in my adventures. Come, let me tell you what happened in the past few weeks," Ezreal managed to say. His eyes searched for the pretty woman he encountered just now, but he found himself at the center of attention as other guests glanced at him with disgust.

Even with an ego comparable to Draven's, Ezreal couldn't help but blush. Meanwhile, Vayne and Lucian had swiftly departed from the scene.

"Geez, I dislike him the moment he approached you," remarked Lucian. "What a cocky and arrogant kid."

"He's famous, but also infamous for being a womanizer. Sure, many girls are die-hard fans of his, but wise people will ultimately find him immature and narcissistic," she criticized, crossing her arms. Suddenly she saw a familiar face—the face of a certain Seneschal of Demacia. Though only the face was recognizable.

"Xin Zhao?" she called.

The seneschal almost jumped. He turned and saw the two of them.

"Oh, it's you Vayne. I see you've brought a date?"

Vayne blushed. Lucian found her rather cute when she did so.

"Nice to meet you, sir. My name is Lucian."

Xin Zhao shook his hand, still amazed. He had a lot of things to say in his mind, but he couldn't find the right words to express himself at the moment.

"What brings you here, Xin Zhao? You don't strike me as the relaxing type," said Vayne before Xin Zhao could say anything. "And you usually don't wear tuxedos."

"Um…I am not exactly here for the fun. The Snowdown Ball is not just a party, but an unofficial summit between various political figures across Runeterra. As the Seneschal of Demacia, I am obliged to attend the Ball to meet with officials and discuss political matters."

Lucian gasped. The man standing in front of him was much of a workaholic than the two of them. _Still at work even in a party? Geez._

"The talks regarding Noxus should be over a few months ago. The nation claimed that Swain retired from his throne, and the new leader of the Noxian High Command is General Boram Darkwill, a veteran of the Noxian military. I don't know much about him, but he seems to be a formidable figure in Noxus as well," explained Vayne.

Lucian could sense something was fishy.

 _Swain won't give up his throne this easily! If they claim that he had retired, either he was badly hurt…or was dead in the Ironspike Mountains. Hopefully the latter._

"No, it's not about Noxus this time. It's about the Frejlord. I will be seeing Queen Ashe tonight and discuss some issues with her."

"Queen Ashe…who is she?" asked Lucian. He got his answer immediately, however, when he saw yet another person in the distance.

The woman was unlike anyone he had seen before. Her pure-white hair was the most striking feature, and everything she wore was snowy in colour, including her breastplate, skirt, and legwear. A white crown with a blue jewel was fixed on her head, displaying her royalty to everyone in the hall. Even in a distance he could see her blue eyes—yet another physical trait that no one in the Ball had. Though she wasn't directly looking at him, Lucian found himself captivated by her eyes, which sparkled like a sapphire.

"Already staring at another woman?"

The Purifier was broken from his trance by Vayne's words.

"No, no…it's just that I have never seen a real Frejlordian. She's the ruler of the Frejlord?"

"Not exactly. She's officially given the title of the Queen, but she does not rule the entire nation. Ashe controls only a third of the land—the other third belongs to Sejuani, and the rest is inhabitable land," replied Vayne.

Lucian found the Frejlord situation rather weird.

"Does everyone know this as a fact?"

"Everyone is aware of that. Except you, of course."

"I'd need to catch up on politics soon enough. There are no politicians in the Shadow Isles after all."

"What do you need to discuss with the Queen then, Xin Zhao?"

The Demacian general gazed at the Frejlordian woman. He sighed.

"Ashe wants our assistance in her civil war, of course. It's gone on for quite a while with neither side gaining the upper hand, but there have been many deaths on both sides and Ashe wants to stop that."

"Then she can just sign a peace treaty! The death of her soldiers is not an excuse for her to borrow men from Demacia—she can simply cease fighting!" countered Lucian.

"It's not that simple, Lucian. The political situation in the Frejlord is complicated and difficult to solve with diplomatic means," explained Xin Zhao. "Anyway, I shall depart. Enjoy yourselves tonight."

A waiter approached them soon after Xin Zhao left. Lucian took a glass of beer from the waiter and poured the liquid into his mouth.

"Damn, this must be the best beer I can find in Demacia. Hey, Shauna, where is Ashe's husband? Isn't a King better for dealing with political issues?"

Vayne rolled her eyes.

"You don't even know that Ashe is single?"

"What? You mean…the Frejlord doesn't have a King?"

"Of course! The Frejlord is known for being the only nation with female rulers. And you don't know anything about that?"

"Frankly speaking, I only know the King of Demacia and Noxus. The other nations are out of my bounds. Then why doesn't she find a King? Wouldn't it be easier to rule with two instead of one?"

"Ashe herself is a capable ruler. The problem is that she hasn't chosen her King. I wonder if she'll stay single for the rest of her life, even with killer looks."

"Hope she'll find her love someday. Hey, what's up with the crowd there?"

There was a door in the hall where many people gathered. Intrigued, Lucian grabbed Vayne's hand and guided her towards the spot to investigate. It was supposed to be one of the lecture halls in the College, but it had turned into a mini-casino with familiar slot machines and large poker tables. As Lucian explored the room, he found quite the number of uniformed Demacian officials and extravagant-looking celebrities among the people, using the slot machines or sitting around the poker table, watching the dice roll. Sword-wielding Demacian soldiers were present as well, standing beside the machines and tables as silent guardians.

"Is this a gambling room?" asked Lucian.

"Yes," replied a man who stood nearby Lucian. The man looked drunk judging by his red face. "Participants include famous celebrities and Demacian politicians. Gambling is rare in Demacia, but why not have some fun in the annual Snowdown party?"

Lucian nodded. He had gambled a few times before his journey towards the Shadow Isles, and time did not wear off his memories of the game.

"Who's the best gambler of them all?" he asked.

"I think that is a no-brainer. The crowd is obstructing the players, but I can tell you that no one plays better than the legendary Card Master himself. The gypsy is under heavy supervision this time, but his skill in gambling is unparalleled, I can assure you. Rest assured that he cannot cheat under such circumstances, and yet I wonder how he still manages to win most games."

"If he can't cheat, then eventually he'll run out of luck," analyzed Lucian. "I refuse to believe that he can win game after game purely with skill."

"Then why not test the waters yourself? It's not every day that you get to gamble in Demacia with celebrities and governors alike. Care to accept the challenge?"

Lucian grinned. Reaching into his pocket to confirm he had enough money for the game, he entered the crowd seeking for the legendary gambler. Vayne was reluctant in letting him go, but the Purifier shot her a look as if saying "I'll manage, do not worry, I won't use all our money".

The man looked visibly pleased, enthusiastic that another challenger would join the gambling.

"Good luck, my friend. I'd hope to see someone win Twisted fate with his own game."

Lucian smirked. He was in for some fun and excitement tonight, something he had yet to experience throughout his life.

 _Time to beat the Card Master himself._

* * *

A thunderstorm was forming above the Howling Abyss.

The Howling Abyss was the one place in the world no one would dare to venture. Located deep in the northern side of the Frejlord, the nearly-bottomless chasm contained many treasures and ancient secrets—secrets that modern people had long forgotten. Adventurers had tried to locate the exact location of the massive canyon itself, but their plans were interrupted by violent storms—in fact, the Howling Abyss was surrounded by storms with unimaginable strength on all occasions, blotting out the sun and blacking out the region. Thus, the area around the massive chasm was extremely cold due to the absence of sunlight, further worsening conditions. It wasn't called the "No Man's land" for no reason, and thus it was undisturbed and unvisited for many centuries.

A lightning strike from the sky illuminated the land for the first time since weeks—the Howling Abyss was usually darker than night due to extremely dense clouds. Soon it would snow heavily, covering the land with heavy snow once again.

A figure emerged from the clouds, travelling through the air at high speed. It was a grey-skinned humanoid creature that resembled a human but had far more unsettling looks. It wore a black helmet with two horns on top of it, somewhat similar to a Viking's helmet. It had irregularly-shaped wings that enabled it to dash through the air like an eagle. In its hand was a massive jagged blade with the length of a spear, glowing in red—the same red colour as the laser which teleported Dr. Rath out of the Ironspike Mountains.

The creature dashed into the chasm just as the snow began to fall. On the surface, the Howling Abyss was essentially a huge canyon in ice. The chasm was several hundred meters wide, a seemingly bottomless opening which would lead to the unexplored depths of the Frejlord. There were no light sources in the canyon, but if one could see through the darkness they would realize that the Abyss bends underground for several times. If an object fell down from the top of the chasm, it would not descend forever but instead land on a cliff with decreasing gradient. Technically, however, it was still bottomless.

Roughly two kilometers into the abyss was an abandoned bridge made of stone, connecting two opposite cliffs. It was no ordinary bridge, however, for its history dated back to centuries ago. No one knew its creator or its purpose, but recorded history suggested that a great battle took place on the bridge between the Iceborn and the Frozen Watchers. Its ruins remained relatively preserved and untouched. The creature gave no attention to it, however, and continued on its journey towards the very bottom of the Abyss.

The Abyss was very deep, but the creature flew quickly and skillfully, dodging huge icicles along its way. Though the temperature decreased rapidly as it ventured deeper, it wasn't an issue to the creature. A while later, it arrived at the end of the chasm—the floor of the Howling Abyss, the deepest point one could ever physically reach in Runeterra.

The creature spread its wings to slow itself down before landing on the ice floor. It drew its sword and transformed the weapon into a lantern that engulfed the cave in blood-red light. A man wearing a black robe was released from the creature's grasp, stepping onto the bone-chilling ice while coughing. It turned out that the creature was carrying a person during its flight from the clouds to the depths of the abyss.

The cloaked man removed the hood, exposing his old, wrinkled face. His crimson eyes were identical to the creature's, though the similarities ended there. He glanced around, able to see his surroundings.

The floor of the abyss was essentially a small chamber with nothing but ice walls. It was supposed to be extremely cold here, but the creature's sword gave out heat energy as well as red light. In seconds the floor was warmed to room temperature.

Slowly, the man sat down on the ice floor, his clothing separating his skin from the cold. The creature then stared intensely at the man.

"Do you remember my name?" said the creature.

"You're Aatrox. The eldest of the Creators. We are brothers."

"Frankly, I do not remember yours. Our memories fade in time, brother. If there is one imperfection of ourselves, it is that we do not have a good memory. I am surprised that you remember mine."

The old man studied the Darkin's humanoid figure.

"I like your appearance, Aatrox. Intimidating enough."

Aatrox chuckled.

"I was a blacksmith when Runeterra was first created. But here, I am the God of War. I have lived for centuries, spectating the epic battles of mankind. I can feel the violence in the bloodshed, the clashes of mortal weapons in the battlefield. Since these mortal weapons originate from me, I was able to siphon energy from them once they use the weapons. Over time, my strength and abilities gradually return and I was able to recreate my own appearance and my own weapon."

"I thought I was alone in this world, the only Darkin who has broken free from imprisonment. But I wouldn't have guessed that one of my brothers have dwelled in this world far longer than I have."

"I had the same thought, brother, but I did not expect you to be in the form of a human. Not to mention you wielding the Deathfire Grasp yet being defeated by a group of humans in the Ironspike Mountains. You were lucky that I sensed a sudden power surge in the Ironspikes, which drew my attention and prompted me to investigate. Had I not been there, you would be killed and it will take centuries for your soul to heal before you can return to Runeterra."

The man was indeed furious. To have his perfectly-executed plans disrupted by a group of humans, shattering his dreams of taking revenge on the entire human race.

"I prefer calling by name, brother. How should I address you?"

"Call me Dr. Rath."

"Dr... Rath? Stupid name it is. A mortal name, I presume?"

"I used it to blend into human society."

"Blend in? Why would you mingle yourself with those disgusting humans? Coexisting with them is a grave mistake, Dr. Rath, and you know exactly the price we paid. Why will you make the same mistake again?"

"Let me tell you what I originally planned, Aatrox. Listen."

Aatrox complied and listened to Dr. Rath's version of his story. At certain points during his speech, the Darkin shook his head in disappointment.

"You are too careless, my brother. No wonder you allowed yourself to be defeated by a group of puny humans. I can guarantee you that even after a hundred trials, you would still fail. You have neither the brains nor the strength to conquer this world."

Dr. Rath wasn't amused by Aatrox's reply.

"How long have you been in this world, brother?"

Aatrox was slightly taken aback by the question.

"I do not remember. Centuries, I presume. You know I have a bad memory."

"Centuries? I was freed by an earthquake a century ago, and I have almost succeeded in destroying Runeterra singlehandedly. You, in this Darkin form of yours, didn't even do a thing? You retained some of our powers, Aatrox, unlike me. You could have easily destroyed this world over and over again by yourself! I do not understand, brother—why do you sit idly and let them live? They do not deserve this, the humans—they imprisoned us for—"

"At ease, Dr. Rath. You think I hadn't been planning for their demise? You think I have forgotten what the first humans did to us? You think I had no desire to slaughter them one by one, to watch them suffer? But my powers have dulled far too much, and despite my efforts, I still cannot find a way to restore my powers instantly. It will take too long to regain them, and by the time we do, the humans would have noticed our presence in this land and would have found a way to kill us—permanently. After all these years, I figured out that we need to borrow the power of others in order to achieve our goals. Your plan is rather inspiring to me, I have to admit."

"Unfortunately, there are no more Runes of Teleportation in this world—they are all destroyed. I can no longer connect the Void and the Shadow Isles with this land, and the undead creatures are the only ones—"

"Who says only the Void and the Shadow Isles have capable armies? This is where I am superior to you, brother. You think linearly, while I am the master of tactics. When we try to obliterate the entire human race, of course they will unite and fight us, and we will lose. But why should we fight…when we could get someone else to do the work for us?"

For the first time, Dr. Rath looked confused, clearly not understanding what Aatrox had in mind.

"You have never seen an actual war, I presume. I, as the God of War, has seen far too many battles between humans. Sometimes one tribe against another, otherwise it was an all-out war between multiple nations. Most of the times the stronger side wins—that is no doubt. But I have seen battles that were won with tactics instead of raw strength, and the winner of the greatest war in history—the Rune War—emerged victorious because he knew the art of manipulation."

Aatrox continued, he himself speaking enthusiastically on the topic of war.

"Humans are strong when united, but weak when divided. Tell me, brother—what will happen if the humans are split into two equally-strong sides and fight each other?"

Dr. Rath contemplated.

"Both will suffer heavy losses."

"Correct. My idea is somewhat similar—we find the most powerful nation in Runeterra, and pit this nation against the others. When the humans go to war, they will become weakened enough for us to do our job. Divide and conquer—this is the ultimate tactic I will use to obliterate this world."

The former Master of Death couldn't help but awe at his brother's intelligence.

"But how are we going to divide them? They will not fight each other for no reason. The Valoran Council has signed a peace treaty, and I am sure they will not break it anytime soon."

Aatrox smirked.

"Again, who says that I must find a nation that belongs to this century?"

Aatrox's words further puzzled the doctor.

"Demacia…Noxus…these so-called "military giants" are nothing compared to what I have in mind. The most powerful nation…is the Frejlord."

Dr. Rath could have dropped his jaw literally on the spot.

"Impossible. The Frejlord has a civil war going on for decades between the Avarosan and the Winter's Claw. They are already divided, Aatrox. How will they stand a chance against the other nations?"

"I am not talking about the current Frejlord. I am talking about the ancient Frejlord. Have you heard of the Watchers?"

"No."

"They are powerful ancient beings in the Frejlord but were killed by the Iceborn. Their remains were frozen deep in the Frejlord, and I found one of them—a descendant of the Watchers themselves trapped in ice. I have yet to find a method to revive her but eventually, she will be reborn to this world."

"What is so special about a descendant of the Watchers?"

"She is indeed special. She once was the most powerful being in Runeterra right after the Watchers' deaths. She was the only human who was officially recognized as the sole ruler of the entire Frejlord. History suggested that her full capabilities could take on the might of modern Demacia and Noxus combined. The good thing is, she was also a conqueror. The other tribes in the Frejlord chose to rebel the Queen only because she almost terraformed the entire continent into a land of ice. If she has the same ambition when I revive her, I am sure she will declare war against all nations in Runeterra—and there will be a battle of two sides, just as I planned."

Dr. Rath began to understand how manipulative Aatrox was.

"The wheels are in motion, Dr. Rath. Events will lead to the rebirth of the fallen Queen of the Frejlord, and when she returns to this world, conquering Runeterra would be her ultimate goal. The humans will seek to kill the Queen, and a battle would ensue—a long and exhausting one to both sides. In the end, the Queen and the humans will be too weak to fight, and by then will I interfere and slay them all. Remember, brother. Humans are greedy, selfish creatures that will wipe each other out in due time. We do not need to fight—we just need to divide and conquer."

"The humans are only puppets to us, Dr. Rath. We are the puppet-masters in this war. And trust me, brother. I am the most intelligent of the Darkins. You have failed, brother, and let me assure you that I will not fall into the same path. The battle between the Queen of the Frejlord and the humans will lead towards their demise. All the humans will fall…ultimately…at the hands of a Darkin."

* * *

 **Author's note:**

 **That's all you need to know for the sequel of (Mission Fate: Obliteration). The Frejlord will be the main focus in the next story, and I plan to include all Frejlordian champions along with some recurring characters. Rest assured that the next story—titled (Mission Fate: Unification), will contain a less-linear plot (more twists), a romance story (Ashe is still single, you know), lots of action and most importantly, a lot of fun.**

 **Why does the sequel have such a title, you may ask. Well, the word "Unification" is open to much interpretation, just like "Obliteration".**

 **Other than that, my future plans include a rewrite of this story, along with a one-shot (Yasuo X Riven anyone?). My next release will probably be scheduled around November.**

 **Anyway, stay tuned and wish you the best of luck in the future. Until November.**

 _ **Signed,**_

 _ **The anonymous TF main**_

 **(Important note: Twisted fate WILL RETURN in the sequel "Mission Fate: Unification")**


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